South African singer Miriam Makeba died last night collapsing after performing in Naples. Widely known as “Mama Africa,” she had been a prominent exiled opponent of apartheid since the South African authorities revoked her passport in 1960 and refused to allow her to return after she traveled abroad. She was prevented from attending her mother’s funeral after touring in the United States and would not return to South Africa for over thirty years.
I have had the pleasure of hearing her live on more than one occasion and I mourn her passing.
The horror stories don’t often make the front pages of American newspapers and rarely is the escalating and brutal nature of a war now raging on right on our border even commented on US blogs but Mexico faces a crisis unlike any it has ever faced before. The death toll this year numbers now in the thousands but it isn’t just the numbers that are noteworthy or even that many are simply innocents caught in the crossfire, it is the sheer viciousness of the crimes as well as who is being killed. So far in 2008, just shy of 4,000 people have been killed in Mexico as warring drug cartels intensify their battle for control of drug markets and transportation routes, according to the Mexico City newspaper La Reforma. That’s a 65% increase over the levels in 2007 and a 300% increase over 2002.
In newspaper headlines, the once unthinkable is now commonplace: decapitations; the slaughter of entire families, including infants; massacres of two dozen individuals at a time; and recently, the targeting of innocents with hand grenades in Morelia, Michoacan.
Kidnapping and extortion has also skyrocketed, transforming Mexico into the abduction capital of the Americas and creating a palpable sense of insecurity in the nation. Mexicans are scared, and Americans should be too.
Mexico matters to the United States not merely as our third-largest trading partner and our third-largest source of imported oil. Geography makes Mexico pivotal to U.S. national security. For decades, Mexico has been a mostly stable and friendly neighbor, creating a protective cushion on our southern border. This history has allowed the United States to pay little attention to Mexico’s strategic significance. We continue to do so at our own peril. If our southern security cushion begins to fray, U.S. interests will be threatened on multiple fronts.
The Merida Initiative is a multi-year proposal to provide equipment and training to support law enforcement operations and technical assistance for long-term reform and oversight of security agencies. Last year, President Bush requested an initial $500 million for Mexico and $50 million for Central America, which is included in the FY08 Budget Supplemental request. The FY09 Budget proposal includes $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America. This funding is likely insufficient.
But more than this, one singular problem remains US gun laws in the border states. Mexico’s gun laws are tight and restrictive. The US’ laws are not. So guess where the Mexican drug cartels are buying their weapons? That’s right in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.