The complexity of drug cartels' internal structures, their strategies of "marketing and customer service" and the way they operate increasingly resemble those of large global corporations.
How are the Coca-Cola and McDonald's corporations similar to drugs cartels? Of course the products they sell are completely different, but the way the three try to position their products and brands, increase their market share and increase profits to generate more dividends to their shareholders, is almost the same.
Central America's fall into the hands of drug traffickers makes the following quote seem true: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
EDITORIAL
Although their rulers deny it, Central American countries are losing the war against drug traffickers. In some it is happening faster than in others, and in all of the nations on the isthmus violence associated with drug trafficking is growing, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that mafia power has infiltrated public institutions and private organizations, through bribery, and also through terror.
The unprecedented increase in violence in Costa Rica, once an oasis of peace in the region, is another sign of the failure of the traditional methods of fighting drugs.
EDITORIAL
More powerful than the Central American states, drug trafficking is on the rise not only in terms of an increased supply of drugs in the countries in the region, but through its permeation of institutions using the power of money and generating a growing culture of violence that is making Central America´s lack of a death penalty seem risible. Yes it does exist, but the worst part about it is that it is not institutionalized justice systems that implement it, but the mob bosses, pointing out -to ever younger executioners- the people who should be executed.
Sooner or later, the growing momentum in all of the States of the Union to legalize marijuana will motivate the federal government to remove the ban on its use.
EDITORIAL
As noted by Juan Carlos Hidalgo on his blog on Elfinancierocr.com "... Today, after more than 40 years of continuous failures, we are witnessing the collapse of the international drug war, which has cost the continent hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives."
"If the consumption of a product is legal, so is its trade." Although the Guatemalan proposal to free up export of of the drug will surely kick up some dust, its logic is unassailable.
Editorial
The legalization of marijuana in Uruguay and the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington has opened a door for a proposal by Guatemala to legalize its production and export.
The President of Guatemala has again stated in international forums the need to radically reform anti drug policies.
From a statement issued by the Government of Guatemala:
A Guatemala Commission is to propose legalizing marijuana and poppy for medicinal use
The Guatemalan president, Otto Perez Molina, said today in Panama, after participating in the first plenary of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, that later this year, the National Commission for Reform of Drug Policy could suggest that a bill be presented to Congress to legalize marijuana and poppies for medicinal use in the country.
In the search for alternatives to the failed traditional fight against drug trafficking, the Government of Guatemala studies the possibility of producing poppy in a legal and controlled manner.
President Otto Perez Molina's was the only voice raised in the Western Hemisphere in support of the Government of Uruguay's sedition in authorizing the production and controlled use of marijuana.
Guatemala's foreign minister in Europe has proposed a transition to the regulation of drugs in order to control their health effects, and to take away economic power from the drug cartels.
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that "The Chancellor took part in a seminar yesterday run by British Group of the IPU in which MPs from 30 countries discussed "the reform of drug policy" and the experiences of each nation over the last 18 months, particularly in the framework of the OAS (Organization of American States) . "
In the U.S. the number of people over 12 years old who use drugs increased from 5.8% in 1991-93 to 8.9% in 2008. In Mexico the war on drugs has killed over 50,000 people over the past 5 years.
Juan Carlos Hidalgo wrote an article for Nacion.com in February 2012. His approach, denouncing the harmful effects of drug prohibition, was based on a proposal by the President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, to legalize drugs as a means to combat drug trafficking.
Breaking what is a taboo for any incumbent ruler, President Otto Perez Molina insists on his proposal to deny a market for drug traffickers.
Insisting that applying traditional methods to tackle the scourge of drugs and drug trafficking has not been successful , Perez Molina "does not regret his bold proposal to decriminalize drugs in Central America and is excited about a discussion of this global issue."
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