Word: mexico
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Schaefer says U.S. dollars would be better spent helping Mexico develop more sophisticated antidrug intelligence agencies and databases - particularly in areas like money-laundering, where law enforcement worldwide often cripples organized crime more than conventional interdiction does. "One of the best things the U.S. can do is help Mexico institute international policing protocols that just don't exist there now," says Schaefer. "Transparency...
...study by the California-based Rand Corp., a leading policy think tank, joins that call. It notes that while Mexico has 370 police officers per 100,000 people, the U.S. has only 225 - but enjoys a far more effective and trustworthy police culture. "Security in Mexico: Implications for U.S. Policy Options" recommends that since Calderón's military crusade can only be a short-term drug-war strategy, the U.S. must "engage in a strategic partnership with Mexico that emphasizes reform and longer-term institution-building." One goal, aside from reining in police corruption, is to bridge the chaotic...
Most Mexican-security experts agree. What's more, says Arturo Alvarado, a security analyst at El Colegio de México in Mexico City, "Programs like Mérida also need to direct more resources at curbing demand for drugs in the U.S. This has to be more about getting at the root causes of the drug war, not flashy short-term gestures that benefit U.S. helicopter manufacturers...
Schaefer applauds Calderón and Mexico for the fledgling reform efforts started so far, which she urges the U.S. to do more to promote - especially since Calderón has dropped Mexico's hypernationalist, antigringo guard for a while to let Washington take a more active role. "Mexico is on the right track," she says, "but we have to take better advantage of this window of opportunity that Calderón has given us before he leaves office...
Pedro Canabal, spokesman for Mexico's Tax Administration Service, which oversees the customs agents, seemed to echo policy recommendations like Rand's last weekend when he emphasized the importance of more sophisticated training and detection equipment - of better cops rather than better copters. "We need more than just a body with a weapon," said Canabal. He gets it. And if the Mexicans get it, it's about time the Americans...