Changing the Rules of the Game

Calderón should arrive in Washington with his own suggestions to change the rules of the game.

As if it wasn’t enough that people complain about insecurity, the thousands of deaths during his first four years of government and the increasing intensity of criticisms of his way of approaching drug trafficking, Felipe Calderón travels to Washington, D.C., this week so that Barack Obama, his main ally in the war against cartels, can explain what he meant when he said that the murder of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata in Mexico was a “game-changer.”

The unusual public warning, which implies a criticism of the management of the war against drugs in Mexico, received an immediate and severe response from the Mexican president. Without referring directly to the case of Zapata, Calderón defended his troops and attacked U.S. diplomats — including the current ambassador in Mexico, Carlos Pascual — accusing them of damaging their relationship, distorting facts and discrediting Mexican authorities without reason.

It is in the midst of the current apparent disagreement between the countries that Calderón’s surprise visit to Washington was announced. A few days before, a raid requiring 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agents took place in major cities in the USA, during which 450 people suspected to be linked to Mexican cartels were arrested, and large quantities of drugs and firearms were seized to show that “[the USA] will not tolerate attacks against its agents,” The New York Times reported.

As it stands, Calderón should go to Washington with his own suggestions to change the rules of the game. For example, more than 40 years have passed since the war on drugs began, but American consumption remains the same. Would it not be prudent to organize a worldwide conference to set terms for a new policy to solve the problem? And for the record, Calderón did not advocate the legalization of drugs — just the call for a global conference to explore the alternatives.

If nothing inhibits the North American appetite for drugs, but anti-drug agencies take a week to deliver spectacular blows like last week’s raid, why don’t they do the same every week if they know where and how the cartels operate?

At the same time, Obama would have to be told to get his act together and support the proposal made by the ATF in front of the National Rifle Association, which would force arms vendors to report sales of multiple guns to an individual.

It is a proposal of modest proportions that the president inexplicably doesn’t want to follow. Most probably the gun that was used for the murder of agent Zapata was bought in Texas, Arizona or California.

For his part, Obama should call for a comprehensive reform in the Mexican justice system that prevents criminals like those implicated in the Zapata case from being freed because the office of the attorney general doesn’t adequately prove its allegations or because of corrupt judges.

Another suggestion is to ask of Calderón that together, the executive branch and the Mexican Congress enact a law that allows civil authorities to investigate human rights violations by the Mexican army with rigor and transparency.

If this is the sense of the rule changes that Obama puts forward to combat American vice and its consequences in Latin America and in the United States, the announcement will be welcomed. Meeting to smooth things over and continue without change is not a respectable option.