Plan Mexico?
Plan Mexico?
Towards an Integrated Approach in the War on Drugs
by Alfonso Reyes
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The illegal drug trade has been present in Mexico since the beginning of the twentieth century when prohibition of the opium trade started. Since then, the social harm of the illegal drug trade in all its forms has been constantly increasing. Today, the most obvious example of the social harm of the illegal drug trade in Mexico is drug-related crime. As a result, Mexican authorities have launched a frontal attack against the drug cartels in an effort to reduce drug-related violence. However, the results of these efforts have not been as expected. One of the main problems that Mexican authorities face in their war on drugs is the lack of a well-coordinated anti-drug strategy to fight the illegal drug trade. Further, the efforts made by the Mexican government are based on a supply-reduction approach that has proved ineffective both in Mexico and around the world over the last century because it is not aimed at the social roots of the illegal drug trade. Thus, Mexico's war on drugs has become a never-ending story. This thesis traces this history and then proposes a broader integrated approach based on attacking the roots of the illegal drug trade in Mexico.
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Commander Alfonso Reyes is a Mexican Naval Infantry Officer and former student of the Defense Analysis Department at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He has served in various leadership positions in the Mexican Navy. The views expressed in this paper are the authors and do not represent the views of the Mexican Navy.
