Mexico’s Cult(ure) of Death

Mexico has a long and bloody history, as well as a murderous and

bloody present.

The ancient Aztecs once offered bloody human sacrifices to the war god
Huitzilopochtli; the Spanish conquistadors once slaughtered thousands of
Aztecs; Mexicans once fought a bloody war to gain independence from
Spain; Mexicans once fought a bloody revolution to gain a constitutional
republic; and the Mexican drug cartels are now wreaking bloody havoc up-
on the Mexican people and authorities, plunging some cities into a mur-
derous anarchy, thanks to the (failed) ―War on Drugs‖.

It’s no wonder that many Mexican people have now developed a devo-
tion to the new (and unofficial) patron saint of the murderous narco-
traffickers: Santa Muerte (Saint Death).
Another phenomenon of Mexican narco-culture has been the rise of a
new music genre: narcocoorridos, or drug ballads. Mexico’s narco-culture
of murder and violence has also given birth to a new genre of film: narco
cinema.

In short, the murderous Mexican drug cartels have virtually taken over
Mexico; even to the point of influencing the Mexican culture’s religion,
music, and film.

Cuidad Juarez, especially, has become a murderous free-for-all.

A large Mexican city, which borders the US, Juarez is just across the Rio
Grande from its sister city: El Paso, Texas. From the air, the two cities are
indistinguishable and appear to be one, large city (with a combined popu-
lation of 2.4 million people). I realize that, to most people, Juarez, Mexico
is a very far-off place; but it’s really not—it’s right on the US – Mexico bor-
der. Being a border city, Juarez has always been a violent place because of
all the thugs who tend to congregate in border cities. But recently, due to
the narco-traffickers, the violence has gotten out of control.

I used to live in El Paso, and I’ve been to Juarez; most recently back in
2002. Even then, Juarez was known as the city of disappearing women, so
it probably wasn’t the best idea for me and my girlfriend (at the time) to
visit Juarez, but we did . . . and we also had a wonderful time there. My
girlfriend, with her long blond hair, stood out like a sore thumb. Thankful-
ly no one snatched her off the street—pushing her into a car, never to be
seen or heard from again—as so often happens to many of the women (and
men) who live in Juarez. Today Juarez is so violent and out of control that
the people who live there are living in a constant state of fear. Human life
is very cheap in Mexico these days, thanks to the narco-traffickers.

I believe human life is precious, and it breaks my heart to know that the
people of Mexico are suffering under the murderous oppression of the vio-
lent drug cartels. I think we need to help the Mexican people take control
of their country in order to gain their own safety and security. There’s no
excuse for us allowing what continues to go on there, and things are only
getting worse.

Let’s help the Mexican people build the culture of life they deserve.
The drug-related violence in Mexico is directly related to the US market
demand for illegal drugs, and the best—and only—way to end the murder-
ous violence in Mexico is for the US to decriminalize these drugs. One drug
in particular, marijuana, which is simply a plant, should be completely le-
galized. Because the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) use
the money they make smuggling marijuana into the US to fund their nar-
cotics trafficking, weapons purchases, and bribery money, the elimination
of the venture capital cash flow from their marijuana sales would effective-
ly put them out of business. Cut-off the DTO’s venture capital by legalizing
marijuana and these violent businesses will fold up. According to FBI tes-
timony before the US Congress, May 5, 2010:

―Mexico is the number one foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the

United States. In fact, according to a 2008 inter-agency report, marijuana
is the top revenue generator for Mexican DTOs—a cash crop that finances
corruption and the carnage of violence year after year. The profits derived
from marijuana trafficking—an industry with minimal overhead costs,
controlled entirely by the traffickers—are used not only to finance other
drug enterprises by Mexico’s poly-drug cartels, but also to pay recurring
―business‖ expenses, purchase weapons, and bribe corrupt officials.‖

The US needs to co-opt this cash crop. Take this money out of the hands
of the Mexican DTOs and put it into the hands of the American tax-payers.
The US economy could really use that money right now and the Mexican
people could really benefit from the defunding of the murderous Mexican
drug cartels, which have made their lives a living hell.

If you disagree with me, if you don’t believe that marijuana should be
legalized, then I’m sorry, but you’re not thinking about this issue you’re
just reacting to it. Marijuana use is nowhere near as bad for people,
health-wise, as is the use of alcohol. Yet alcohol is legal. Nor does marijua-
na use impair people to the extent that alcohol use does. Yet alcohol is le-
gal. But alcohol used to be illegal in the US, during prohibition.

Despite its prohibition, alcohol continued to manufactured and deliv-

ered by organized crime syndicates and it continued to be consumed by
the American people. The organized crime syndicates that manufactured
and distributed alcohol made huge profits from their illegal trade, con-
trolled their trade through violence and murder, and used their profits to
fund other illegal ventures and to corrupt police and elected officials. In
short, the same thing is happening with marijuana prohibition today that
once happened with alcohol prohibition. So it doesn’t take an Einstein to
figure this one out: legalize marijuana. Because the good people of Juarez,
who are suffering, are begging us to do so.