Mexican
Congressman
Calls
for
Legalization,
Latin
America
to
Unite
Against
"US-Imposed
Drug
Policy"
6/1/01
The official Mexican news agency Notimex has reported that opposition Mexican congressman Gregorio Urias German has called for the legalization of the drug trade. In a report to congress, Urias called on Mexico and other Latin American nations to move toward the legalization of some drugs to break the cycle of illicit enrichment and associated social problems. Latin American nations need to "break the spinal column of drug trafficking, since the policies imposed by the United States have been shown to be an all-around failure," he said. Urias, a member of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) from the drug-trafficking plagued state of Sinaloa, reported that the drug trade creates profits of $30 billion per year in Mexico alone. Urias joins a small but select group within the Mexican political class that has openly discussed legalization of the drug trade. That group includes President Vicente Fox, Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, Federal Police Chief Miguel Angel de la Torre and Chihuahua Gov. Patricio Martinez Garcia. Urias' comments, however, mark the first time a prominent member of the PRD has joined the panistas of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) in the call for fundamental change, and thus represent the gradual spread of legalization consciousness within the Mexican body politic. Citing the cases of disgraced short-term Mexican drug czar Gen. Jose de Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, the family of former president Salinas de Cortari, and the recently arrested former governor of Quintana Roo, Mario Villanueva, Urias emphasized that drug traffickers had penetrated the institutions of the Mexican state. He added that Mexico's political transition to a multi-party democracy is endangered by the status quo, as are other Latin American countries. Mexico faces the prospect of becoming a "narco-state," Urias said. In his report, "An Informed Vision to Confront Drug Trafficking," Urias explicitly criticized the United States. He said that US drug policy was an instrument of espionage, subordination and interference in the sovereignty of other countries, Notimex reported. He also accused the US of practicing a "yellow journalism" strategy to discredit Mexican law enforcement and then blackmail, pressure, and otherwise attempt to dictate Mexican drug policy. Legalization must be discussed, he told Notimex, because under the status quo Mexican and Latin American communities where drugs destined for foreign markets are produced are being destroyed by violence and vengeance.
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