The Drug War: Obama Leaves the Command to Mexico

Last week Obama returned to Latin America to launch a particular message. The U.S. president pressed on until relations with the Central American countries, characterized by the violence correlated with drug dealing and organized crime, pointed more toward economic development and less toward the never-ending battle against drug traffickers.

Obama arrived for a two-day visit to Mexico, determined more than ever to support the reduction of the military approach in the fight against drug trafficking; for too long, it has created an escalation of violence in the territory. The countries south of America, Mexico in particular, need to set new internal security rules — and, most of all, be able to enforce them. This new approach of collaboration runs the risk of seeming to bow down to the governments of the south, who in this moment are more occupied with maintaining a positive public image than with addressing problems and issues that could dirty it. Many political leaders in Central American insist, therefore, that Obama keep his eyes open to border security issues, but place the emphasis on their new image in phase of development.

The new Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, came into office last December with the promise of reducing the exploding violence of previous years, brought on by the military approach to the fight against drug trafficking adopted by his predecessor, Felipe Calderón. His initiative caused the death of 60,000 people in Mexico and does not seem to have significantly damaged the drug-trafficking industry. In addition to his desire to reduce violence that some critics have interpreted as a softening on the criminality connected to drugs, Peña Nieto has pushed the U.S. to be less involved in the reinforcement process. With this friction and distrust between the U.S. and Mexico, Obama has affirmed that the U.S. will commit to no longer dominating the security agenda that concerns this country.

“It is obviously up to the Mexican people to determine their security structures and how it engages with the other nations — including the United States,” he affirmed, sitting next to Peña Nieto last Thursday during his visit to Mexico City. “But the main point I made to the president is that we support the Mexican government’s focus on reducing violence, and we look forward to continuing our good cooperation in any way that the Mexican government deems appropriate.” However, many have seen in these last developments an enthusiastic and engaged Mexico emphasizing its economic growth while downplaying its problems related to crime, to the point of encouraging local media to avoid mentioning that world.

“The problem will not just go away,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue. “It needs to be tackled head-on, with a comprehensive strategy that includes but goes beyond stimulating economic growth and alleviating poverty.” In some way, having “conceded” to Mexico the internal security leadership and the reduction of violence in the fight against drug trafficking reduces some principles of Obama’s foreign policy, in which American supremacy yields in favor of a multilateral approach. This new opening by Obama could collide with the worries of the Washington legislators who have already expressed their frustration surrounding the president’s lack of clarity on security plans in Mexico. The analysts have affirmed that the intricate corruption that characterizes Mexico, particularly its legal system, has been primarily responsible for blurring the partnership with the United States.

To place the border security problem in Mexico’s hands also means a change in the balance of power and risking other areas, seeing that Congress is currently discussing immigration reform that will include, among other things, a reinforcement of border security. And given that in the U.S. Congress there is a perception that the security cooperation is weakening, this could be one more reason for opponents of the reform to vote against it. While the debate in the U.S. is focusing on reinforcing border security and the path to facilitating citizenship, Obama and Peña Nieto cautiously faced these subjects in Mexico City during their Thursday encounter, perfectly understanding the weight their comments would have had on the populations of the countries they represent.

There are many doubts and questions following the meeting. First of all, one wonders how Mexicans will face the reinforcement of border security. Will they perhaps consider it a price to pay for the immigration law to change? The main question seems to be the mutual respect of both governments; Mexico and the U.S. have publicly declared that they will work to reinforce security on both sides of the border, but at the same time to resolve problems relating to the autonomy of their territories. Going back to drug trafficking, therefore, it seems the U.S. considers this to be a question connected to domestic policy in South America. Peña Nieto emphasized this encounter and Obama’s words, asking the U.S. government to wish Mexico “good luck” when it comes to reducing violence in the fight against drug trafficking and securing the borders. The Mexican leader seems decided to go along this road, though with the U.S. watching by his side.