Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Javier Sicilia the 56 year old Mexican poet, journalist and activist who launched a grassroots movement with aims to end the ‘War on Drugs’ after his 24 year old son was murdered by a drug cartel, has been interviewed by Connor Guy and Umar Farooq for The Nation magazine. Sicilia states “Cartels have a lot of bosses. We are talking now about fifteen cartels [in Mexico].  And they have multiplied since President Calderón’s [2006 military] strategy to make war on them. …A path to peace is to change the national security law to a human law for peace. And the allowance of regulated drug use, because its not a national security issue, it’s a public health issue, and attacking drug abuse is causing a tremendous harm to the country. …The US has forbidden drug use, which should be a public health issue. And then they set up for us this war. Over $2 billion have been invested in this war [on drugs]—mostly for guns, for weapons and military intelligence. …if we can get support from the media, we would be able to put this on the politicians’ agendas, because it’s a problem in the US and Mexico. It’s a bi-national problem. Not only that, it is a continental problem, and if we are really serious, it is a world problem.”

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Bring this discussion to the table (March 6th)

Otto Fernando Pérez Molina the 61 year old Guatemalan retired military officer and now President, has proposed in a radio interview to legalize the transportation of drugs through Guatemala. Pérez Molina will be meeting with other Central American leaders at a regional meeting and anticipates providing further details of his proposal at this time. Pérez Molina concluded the escalating violence and crime rate attributed to the US ‘War on Drugs” indicates the war with the drug cartels has failed. Although the US provides aid to Central American governments to fight the drug trafficking on their behalf, the aid is insufficient to offset the extensive loss of life and the burgeoning crime rates of the region. Pérez Molina stated, “I want to bring this discussion to the table … It wouldn’t be a crime to transport, to move drugs. It would all have to be regulated.” It is expected the US will pull out all stops to prevent Pérez Molina from instigating such a move via pressure publically and privately, the outcome at least will generate greater US attention to resolving the underlying issues Pérez Molina raises.

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