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War on Drugs

Protests Heat Up in Mexico Over Murdered Missing Students, Idiot Politicians, and the Narco-State Their Drug War is Facilitating

Ed Krayewski | 11.8.2014 11:54 PM

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Kermit meme from Mexico
generadormemes.com

In late September police in Iguala, Mexico, apparently abducted 43 college students, now believed to have been handed over to a drug cartel and murdered. The mayor of Iguala and his wife are among those arrested in relation to the mass murder—the mayor ordered police to attack the students, who were raising money in the area, because he thought they would disrupt a speech his wife was making.

The horrifying incident, another signpost on Mexico's road to narco state status, also galvanized much of the Mexican population, leading to weeks of protests against corrupt politicians and their links to drug cartels.  Earlier today demonstrators set fire to several vehicles outside the office of the governor of Guerrero state, which includes Iguala.

The renewed protests were fueled in part by a comment made by Mexico's attorney general, Jesus Murillo Karam, at the end of a press conference about the missing students.  CBS News reports:

After an hour of speaking, Murillo Karam abruptly signaled for an end to questions by turning away from reporters and saying, "Ya me canse" -- a phrase meaning "Enough, I'm tired."

Mexico mayor, wife detained in case of 43 missing students

Mexico police searching for missing students make discovery

Cartels, corruption, and the case of 43 missing Mexican students

Within hours, the phrase became a hashtag linking messages on Twitter and other social networks. It continued to trend globally Saturday and began to emerge in graffiti, in political cartoons and in video messages posted to YouTube.

Many turned the phrase on the attorney general: "Enough, I'm tired of Murillo Karam," says one. Another asks: "If you're tired, why don't you resign?"

Other people used it to vent their frustrations with messages such as "Enough, I'm tired of living in a narco state" or "Enough, I'm tired of corrupt politicians."

As U.S. drug policies continue to destabilize Mexico even while multiple U.S. states move toward legalizing marijuana, the posturing of American drug warriors from the safety of their homes and offices will look increasingly idiotic, dangerous, and unsustainable.

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Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

War on DrugsMexicoDrugs
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  1. Vulgar Madman   11 years ago

    I wish the Mexican people luck. They're going to need it, and so are we.

  2. Vulgar Madman   11 years ago

    And so will we.

  3. Deputy Fuzz   11 years ago

    Makes you want to import more of the people who elected that guy into office, doesn't it?

    1. Scarecrow Repair   11 years ago

      O dunphy fuzz
      O dunphy fuzz
      Kiss us now our leader.

      1. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

        It's Tulpa, not Dunphy.

        Weasel, not pig.

    2. Paul.   11 years ago

      Except we're getting the ones trying to get away from him. Funny that.

  4. lap83   11 years ago

    Really horrible story. Although I'm not sure how this could have been avoided by legalizing drugs. Sometimes evil goes deeper than just bad laws.

    1. AlmightyJB   11 years ago

      I don't see the Bacardi's gunning down the Beam's.

      1. XM   11 years ago

        "I don't see the Bacardi's gunning down the Beam's."

        Pot is not the brand alcohol is. There's no pot equivalent of Budweiser or Coors Light. And even in states that legalized pot, you can't drive 5 minutes to Walmart to get pot.

        Does Canadian have drug cartels? Pot is still illegal (I thought it was legal for a long time) there.

        It's the corrupt Mexican government that's the problem. Ending the drug wars will require the two nations to shut down the black market and the flow of illegal supply from their ends. And then they have to allow volume distribution and sales by big retailers like Walmart. Not gonna happen.

        1. BigT   11 years ago

          "Ending the drug wars will require the two nations to shut down the black market and the flow of illegal supply from their ends. "

          For sure! You can't grow marijuana in CA, OR, IA, OH, IL, or anywhere in the US. They can hardly scratch out 160 bushels of corn per acre. It's a wasteland!

        2. John C. Randolph   11 years ago

          It's the corrupt Mexican government that's the problem.

          Narco gang money drives that corruption.

          -jcr

    2. Scarecrow Repair   11 years ago

      Evil without the money to fuel it is no more dangerous than an out of tune diesel engine engine with an empty tank.

      1. JeremyR   11 years ago

        So why is the Mafia still around?

        Unless you legalize everything, there will always be something illegal to sell. Pot is probably getting legalized everywhere in the next 10 years, but heroin? Meth? Probably not in our lifetimes.

        And even legal things get taxed, which opens a black market opportunity. Again look at the Mafia - they make big bucks off of cigarettes.

        If drugs are legalized but taxed, then the money will still be there for the Mexican gangs. It's one thing to grow pot, but what about other stuff?

        1. BigT   11 years ago

          "Again look at the Mafia - they make big bucks off of cigarettes."

          So many have died in the Mafia's cigarette wars you can't count them! Oh, wait...

          1. dantheserene   11 years ago

            Well there was that one guy the cops strangled. Was he in the Mafia?

        2. Robert   11 years ago

          Mexico's been crooked forever, just more or less. The only reason there's narco-crime there is because crime gravitates to criminals; it's not as if the illegality of drugs is going to turn a significant # of people into gangsters, it's just that the gangsters pick up the biz. Meanwhile there's kidnapping, extortion, robbery?and it's often by the cops.

          Bob Falk thinks the problem in Latin America goes all the way back to the Spanish, who brought a culture of despoliation across the Atlantic.

      2. Robert   11 years ago

        What if the evil is in the getting of the money itself, as via theft or extortion?

    3. Robert   11 years ago

      And just slapping the prefix "narco-" on an affair doesn't make it actually about narcotics.

  5. David Emami   11 years ago

    I hate the drug war, but you shouldn't lose sight of the fact that these people have free will and decided to do these things. We've helped create a situation where scum rises to the top, but scum is still scum.

    Also, I'm a dubious about the situation being fixable. Even if the drug war were ended tomorrow, we're probably looking at something analogous to the fall of the USSR: those with guns and money will be able to remain powerful even after the dynamics that gave them their power are gone.

    Note: not all saying the drug war shouldn't be ended yesterday. It should. I just expect the aftermath to suck nearly as much.

    1. Sevo   11 years ago

      "Note: not all saying the drug war shouldn't be ended yesterday. It should. I just expect the aftermath to suck nearly as much."

      Yep, we and the Mexicans will have to pay for that stupidity for some time.
      So END IT NOW to reduce the time we (and others) will have to pay for it in lives and treasure.
      End it NOW!

      1. David Emami   11 years ago

        Yes, I agree. Just lamenting the situation, and pondering the inevitable "we ended it like you said but things aren't instantly wonderful, so you were obviously wrong!" reactions. Guess I'm in a pessimistic mood tonight.

    2. Vulgar Madman   11 years ago

      Ending the drug war won't, bring the millennium, but it must end.

    3. Homple   11 years ago

      "We've helped create a situation where scum rises to the top, but scum is still scum."

      Very much worth remembering.

      1. BigT   11 years ago

        I blame the Founders who gave us that damned Constitution that facilitates scum rising. Or are you discussing other scum?

  6. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    Their tears are so yummy!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckjE3Ehx_DQ

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsIDRC8Yxww

    1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

      ^refers to proggy midterm tantrums

    2. Aloysious   11 years ago

      I only made it to :44

      Of course, I haven't finished my first post-work drink yet either...

  7. JeremyR   11 years ago

    Or maybe they just have a really, really violent culture dating back to the pre-Columbian days?

    Have you ever read a book on what Mesoamericans did to each other? Or for that matter, themselves?

    And then meld that culture with the European one that brought the world the Spanish Inquisition.

    1. BigT   11 years ago

      "Or maybe they just have a really, really violent culture dating back to the pre-Columbian days?"

      Absolutely! The Iroquois and Chippewa had love festivals from NY to Iowa. And Europe has been a peaceful paradise for centuries. No wonder N America is not ravaged by the drug war. It's full of stoned hippies!

    2. pogi   11 years ago

      The two differences being that nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

      1. cavalier973   11 years ago

        Three differences.

    3. Acosmist   11 years ago

      C...ulture? Is that the new word for "race"?

      1. Homple   11 years ago

        No. Progressives, race mongers, social justice warriors and such willingly confuse the two words but they refer to very different things.

    4. Eric Bana   11 years ago

      Or maybe they just have a really, really violent culture dating back to the pre-Columbian days?

      Have you ever read what those Europeans did to each other?

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