Violence in Mexico

The United States hasn't been serious about the violence in Mexico because it would hurt our own government and corporate economic interests. Decades of putting our heads in the sand and a refusal to use a combination of diplomacy and economic sanctions to pressure the Mexican government to fight corruption and reign in their drug cartels, have all contributed to the anarchy and violence that is spilling over the border into our own country. Instead, we pushed fair trade and our corporations built manufacturing plants. "Fair" trade and human rights don't generally go hand-in-hand.

Let's close our manufacturing plants in Mexico. The Mexican government cannot protect the maquiladoras who work in them - over 470 women and girls have been killed in Juarez, Mexico. Over 100 journalists have been killed by drug cartel people, some of the victims thrown to the lions...literally. Over 1,600 people, including US journalists and citizens, were kidnapped and killed just last year. The corrupt government of Mexico can't and won't control its criminals and allows them to act with impunity, because the criminals also include the police, military and government officials, themselves. At the end of this post, please read the more detailed information on the inexplicable arrest of over 45 women in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico. Many of them were tortured and repeatedly raped by their arresting officers and held for over a week without bail. The government has purposefully refused to pursue any investigation of these arrests, rapes, tortures, and detentions since they occurred in May, 2006.

The United States government should recommend that all US corporations and non-profits discontinue all operations and pull their employees out of Mexico for their safety. We can use the production jobs to increase our own GDP and humanitarian assistance here in our own country during own rough fiscal times, anyway. Our country should refuse to send any aid or assistance to Mexico until the government pursues the prosecution and detention of all guilty parties involved in the drug cartels, violence and human rights violations in their country. This should help motivate the Mexican government to actually do something significant about the violence. We should be doing something to protect American citizens in border towns on our side of the border, as well. Our reporters and government should also be telling American citizens the truth about the extremely high levels of violence being perpetrated right on our doorstep!

Check out some of the interesting first-hand accounts of life in Juarez, Mexico and across from it in El Paso, Texas, USA on this CNN blog:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/26/this-is-not-the-mexico-i-remember/

Information of the women of Atenco, Mexico, plus a request to write a politely-worded letter to Mexico's Attorney General demanding justice for these victims of human rights violations:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/individuals-at-risk/priority-cases/the-women-of-atenco/page.do?id=1361019

UPDATE 3/7/09
I just learned that an 18-year-old girl, a cousin of a collegue, was murdered by drug cartel members a week ago in Chihuahua, Mexico; she was an innocent bystander. My collegue has stated she would absolutely not travel to Mexico at this time because of the extent of the violence, much of which is not publicized north of the border to United States citizens. This violence includes grenades being thrown into crowds, as well as kidnappings for ransom. If you're thinking of traveling to Mexico, please think twice.

Claudia Castillo Receives New Trachea Grown From Her Own Stem Cells

There is great news from an article I read on CNN International. Claudia Castillo, of Cali, Columbia, received a new windpipe grown from stem cells removed from her hip and nose. The operation was performed in Spain this past June and has saved Ms. Castillo from the necessity of the removal of a lung and/or a traditional transplant that would have required her to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. Suffering from tuberculosis and chronic coughing spells that left her trachea badly damaged, she was unable to breathe without difficulty. Ms. Castillo is now almost fully recovered from her stem cell tracheal transplant and can now breathe better. Scientists believe this new type of transplant will revolutionize health care in the future. Ms. Castillo stated, "I feel good because it gives hope to sick people who haven't been given any hope." Here's the link to the full CNN article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/22/windpipe.interview/index.html

Hopefully, this breakthrough will offer the possibility of stem cell transplants of other body parts, improving and saving many lives. This is definitely a field to watch.

Five Secretaries of State: Advice to the New President, on CNN

CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno brought together five former Secretaries of State, Warren Christopher, Henry Kissenger, Madeline Albright, James Baker, and Colin Powell, to give advice to the new President of the United States. All five unanimously agreed that one of the first things the new president should do is close Guantanamo. They also agreed that the United States should be a leader in combating global warming and climate change, and excising waterboarding from our interrogations. The next president should look to cooperation with other nations, as well, improving our respect around the world.

In relation to dealing with Russia, Powell stated we should look at both sides and truly analyze the entire strategic situation before we leap to the favor of one side. Strategic, not tactical means of dealing with them should be used, said Baker. As for Iran, Albright says it is important to discover the right level at which you might meet to begin talks with Iran. Can the world live with a nuclear Iran? They agreed that once you know how to create 5% enrichment, it is easily scalable to 90% enrichment. Albright believes we need to better understand the culture and economy of Iran and stop vilifying Iran, which only serves to empower them. All five concur that we should negotiate with Iran. Many of these leaders believed there should be talks with Iran initiated at the level of Secretary of State. Kissinger believes that as a negotiator, you should tell the other side what you're trying to achieve and the outcome you have in mind, so that they have something to react to. He states we should make the content of negotiations clear.

On the question of Iraq, the Pentagon believes the war in Iraq is winding down and Afghanistan is ratcheting up. Powell believes we should 'get into the Afghan government,' create a relationship with Pakistan to bring control over the tribal border areas and better deal with the Taliban. Baker states we must beef up our soft power areas including foreign assistance and diplomatic personnel in order to reconstruct these countries. Our Department of Defense budget is 20% higher than that of the State Department. Hard power has been overutilized over soft power. Even Gates stated that military solutions cannot completely solve the problem. In relation to Israel and Palestine, Baker says we should engage with Syria and attempt to pull them away from their marriage of convenience with Iran. Try to make Syria our ally, instead.

All in all, this evening's interviews were powerfully informative. I hope that both Presidential candidates listen to their collective advice.