The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing conflict among rival drug Cartels fighting over regional control, especially near the Mexican-American border. More than thirty years ago former Mexican Judicial Federal Police Félix Gallardo developed the first drug cartel. Gallardo was the Lord of Mexican drug Lords, controlling all illegal drug trade and drug trafficking in Mexico. By being the first to connect with Colombia's Cocaine Cartels his cartel gained steady power. Smuggling marijuana and opium into the US was only the beginning. Even though Gallardo bought his protection from politicians and the Federal Security Directorate, he decided to divide up his trade into smaller Cartels. Doing so made business run more efficiently and minimized the attention Gallardo was getting. Which also took the drug trade back underground, for some time at least. At this point, late 1980's, the drug Cartels were strong and successful. Then why wasn't Mexico considered "unsafe" twenty years ago? Well that is one of the questions that I wish to answer by researching this topic.
One reason I chose this topic is because my family lives in Chihuahua, one of the main bases for these cartels, and I've witnessed some of the changes these towns have undergone as a result of the Mafia. As a child visiting Chihuahua was my favorite thing to do, but in the last year the trips have not been so pleasant. Friends have been lost and threats have been made. My brother and I witnessed a shooting blocks away from our uncle's house last Summer. This Drug War that is taking place in Mexico affects my family and I greatly. But not only does it affect Mexicans or Latinos, but Americans and the US as well. A fence and a river separate us from this war, but that doesn't mean we ignore what is happening on the other side of the fence. Especially when these armed cartels depend on the US to thrive and exist. Not only is it nonethical to not care about something we have influenced, but the most dangerous city in the world, Cd. Juarez, is only a few yards away from El Paso- which makes the Mexican Drug Cartels the greatest organized crime threat to the United States. I will research different aspects of this war to try and understand how my beautiful Mexico has turned into a fearful and violent place.
Questions I hope to answer during my research:
- How are the present cartels different from the Cartels of the 1980's and 1990's?
- Who are these Cartels?
- How do Cartels obtain power over the government? Is anyone directly to blame?
- How does US influence the Cartels and the war? Should US take any responsibility for it?
