WOLA in the News
Washington, DC
Reforma, one of Mexico's principle news papers, ran an op-ed by WOLA Associate Maureen Meyer earlier this week on President Obama's first visit to Mexico. As expected, mutual concerns on drug trafficking and violence were at the forefront of Presidents Obama and Calderon's discussions. Rather than continuing the dated and ineffective anti-drug trafficking methods of using the military to combat drug-related violence, Meyer urges U.S. support for a reform of the Mexican police and judicial systems. The military cannot arrest and try suspects, and as Meyer reminds, using the military distracts from the important institutional reforms needed to cultivate rule of law in Mexico. This article is only available in Spanish.
An opinion article by WOLA Executive Director, Joy Olson , was published shortly after in CNN's Anderson Cooper's blog, on U.S. security assistance to Mexico. Olson impressed the importance of the U.S. responsibility in reducing the drug demand at home that fuels violence in Mexico and re-evaluating US gun laws to stem the illicit smuggling of high powered arms into the hands of Mexican drug traffickers. Olson reiterated that equipement and helicopters will not deal with drug violence in the long run, but rather a serious investment in Mexico's public security institutions is needed.
