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Column 122914 Brewer
Monday, December 29, 2014
Evo Morales Denounces Mexico, calling it a 'Failed Model' By Jerry Brewer Evo Morales, the roguishly left Bolivian president, petulantly snipped at Mexicos leadership recently, saying, Organized crime is above the state in Mexico. Morales, in continuing rhetoric, said: I continue to think that there is the failed free-market model, which is regrettably subject to the rule of the United States. Now there are profound problems. We would not want to have these types of problems in Bolivia organized crime where it would seem that criminals are set above the state. In some regions, drug trafficking cannot be combated successfully even with military bases. However Morales, as did the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Ecuadors left leaning President Rafael Correa, has essentially kicked the U.S. DEA and U.S. military counterdrug efforts out of his nation. Even Argentina suspended cooperation for a time, in 2011, after that government seized what reportedly were unlawful guns and surveillance equipment being brought into the country aboard a U.S. military aircraft. Yet the massive drug insurgency that followed prompted the Argentine government to sign a series of cooperation agreements with the U.S. in May of 2014 to combat the presence of drug trafficking gangs. Morales attributed the fight against drug
trafficking, and the same neoliberal economic
dependency, to the U.S. and Mexico. However it appears that Morales may also have a hidden agenda, apart from ignoring the misery, death and destruction of families brought on by drug use in those respective nations, especially Argentina. The policies of eradicating coca crops and a militarized strategy of fighting organized crime groups were provoking violence and instability," Morales added. Ironically, at the 47th Mercosur Summit in Argentina a few weeks ago, Morales solidarity pledges referred to former leaders of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Brazil, saying Through Hugo Chavez, Kirchner and Fidel Castro, these integration processes have changed Bolivia's history Bolivia will never forget them. Again, he must have missed the lack of prosperity, economy collapses, high violent crime rates, and assorted human rights violations saturating Venezuela and Cuba due to their tired socialist and communist regimes. Mexicos government was quick to respond to Morales. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered the Bolivian presidents comments. These repeated expressions promote a false perception of regional division at a time when Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico in particular, are determined to build a space of unity and dialogue in the figure of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Morales continued to talk about Mexicos and Colombias failed attempts to fight drug trafficking and rationalized them to Bolivias alleged efforts to eradicate coca cultivation and seize cocaine and marijuana shipments. The market for cocaine is generally in industrialized and developing countries, Morales said. But look at what is happening in Colombia, and especially how it is in Mexico. Morales was deeply influenced and built solid
relationships with Hugo Chavez and the Castro
brothers. He signed Bolivia to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. Morales, Chavez, Maduro, and the Castros frequently alleged that the U.S. CIA was plotting to assassinate them. Each of those nations attempted to justify massive spending on arms and their intelligence networks, at much cost to their people and quality of life. This poverty is extreme and continues. Mexicos history of attacks from these rogue regimes even extends back to 2005. At the Summit of the Americas in Argentina, Hugo Chavez orchestrated his and Fidel Castros usual dog and pony show with violent anti-U.S. protests and rhetoric. Chavez called then-Mexican President Vicente Fox a puppy of the (U.S.) empire. This as Fox had criticized Chavezs attempts to win his antifree trade agenda and sour the attending nations consideration of the initiatives. The verbal exchange between the two presidents in the aftermath of the Summit set the stage, and demonstrated the contrast for a comparison between good and evil, with more than a hemispheric split in opinion. Fox announced that 29 countries supported the continuation of negotiations toward free trade, and boldly suggested that an agreement be made without five opposing countries. And Chavez reacted, not diplomatically but rather as a leftist bully attempting to humiliate anyone who opposed him. Fox subsequently demanded an apology, and an explanation from Chavez for the disrespect demonstrated to his nation which he did not get. This prompted both Mexico and Venezuela to recall their respective ambassadors. During and after the Summit several Latin American presidents complained that their voices had been virtually censored. Some even complained of being unable to invite journalists to their hotels for interviews, while Chavez and
Argentinas soccer legend Diego Maradona
paraded protestors prone to violence through the streets of Mar del Plata, burning U.S. flags and insulting a U.S. President. It is clear that Mexico's struggle against organized crime lies in the modernization of its policing, security, and judicial reform for successful prosecutions. Mexico, as well as other countries in Latin America, is learning that the organized crime-terror nexus has so much more than drug trafficking issues to contend with.
Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice
International Associates, a global threat mitigation firm headquartered in northern Virginia. His website is located at www.cjiausa.org. TWITTER: CJIAUSA Jerry Brewer published archives