Mexican Cartels Essay

Mexican Cartels have run rampant throughout South and Central America, specifically in Mexico. The cartels have groomed an environment of drug addiction, violent shootouts, and corruption to allow themselves to thrive. While the Mexican Government is the entity with the most on its hands, the United States and United Nations have been directly involved with the issue. Also, cartels are not one entity but many different groups which shape the violence into an even greater complex issue. Currently, cartels are thriving as Mexico is facing all-time high corruption, the United States drug demand is growing still, and the international community provides wishy-washy indirect band-aid solutions to the issue.

Drug cartels have been present in Mexico

Corruption in the Mexican government, police, and judicial system compromises Mexico’s ability to combat illegal drug cartels and turns key officials into allies of the drug cartels. To combat this a three-step plan is required comprising Austerity Plans, Increased SNA funding, and Judicial Action. Austerity plans would slash government expenditures in an effort to end the lavish privileges traditionally enjoyed by politicians. This would discourage those joining the government primarily for the lavish life from doing such. These government employees are the most susceptible to being corrupted. Another step is increasing the funding for Mexico’s Sistema Nacional Anticorrupción (SNA) which links all anti-corruption initiatives together, including judicial reform, checks and balances, and prosecution of corrupt officials. The reason why the SNA is a crucial organization is due to the civilian oversight and leadership. The overseeing committee of the SNA is the Citizen Participation Committee. The president of the Citizen Participation Committee serves as the president of the entire System (Hinojosa). This gives citizens a lead role in the anti-corruption fight. Finally, extensive judicial action is necessary for secure government, judicial, and security organizations. For example, on a state level, 42 governors have been suspected of corruption since

This can be pulled into two categories- US and Mexico. The drug demand in Mexico is low compared to the demand from their northern border, however, the amount of youth on drugs in Mexico is alarmingly high. The Strengthening Families Program was implemented in Central America and the Caribbean and is “based on scientific evidence that proves the effectiveness of targeting parents and adolescents to prevent drug abuse, crime and other risk behaviors in youth.” (UNODC). The strengthening families program participants reported Dramatically reduced tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse use, increased family unity, higher marks in school, and other benefits (Strengthening Families Foundation). While this Solution does not do much to address immediate problems with Mexican cartels, it proactively addresses the core root of the problem. The effects will be seen even greater when the youth grow to be adults with the ability to purchase illicit drugs. To address the issue of drug demand in the US it is necessary to increase grants and funding for effective local anti-drug coalitions specifically, Drug-Free Communities. The Drug-Free Communities program is the US’ leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent and reduce substance use among youth. The program is effective however it does not reach as many as possible. The Drug-Free Communities program reached