In an appearance before the US Senate on March 22, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Lindsey Graham had this exchange about drug trafficking. We expect this kind of political nonsense from garbage haulers like Lindsey Graham (quotes taken from his Senate page):
GRAHAM: “I want to put the Mexican government on notice – and [the State] Department. When it comes to the poisoning of America [by fentanyl], we’re going to take different action because what we’re doing is not working.”
GRAHAM: “Are there drug cartels in control of parts of Mexico [instead of] the government of Mexico?”
BLINKEN: “I think that’s fair to say, yes.”
GRAHAM: “Do you believe our policies toward drug cartels and fentanyl coming from Mexico – that those policies are working?”
BLINKEN: “They need to do more. They need to be more effective…”
GRAHAM: “How about this idea. Rather than just interdicting [fentanyl] at the border, we go to the source and declare Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations under U.S. law. Would you consider that?”
BLINKEN: “Yes, we’d certainly consider that.”
Several thoughts to consider here with this exchange:
- Does Sen. Graham advocate interventions into the sovereign country of Mexico? Hasn’t US policy dating back over 100 years proven this to be heartless, immoral, illegal and unsuccessful?
- Does Sen. Graham seriously not consider any role by local communities to aid those people harmed by the drug use/abuse? We know the answer: no money for care and treatment in the USA.
- Turning this exchange around on Sen. Graham: “are there drug cartels in control of parts of the USA [instead of] the government of the United States?” After all, judging by the rampant consumption of drugs and the ease of their movement, the entire United States is under cartel control!
- “Are your policies working?” This rabid xenophobia assumes that Mexico (and China) are solely to blame for this crisis. These political actors need to blame someone else rather than take any responsibility for the well-being of their citizens.
- Why does Secretary Blinken concur? Did he make a mistake by not countering Sen. Graham’s assumptions or suggestions? Quite the opposite: it appears that Secy Blinken agrees with Sen. Graham! He (Blinken) appears to have no desire to build any relationship or work out any joint respectful collaboration with Mexico or Central American nations that is essential to address the common problem of crime and violence.
Secy Blinken, unlike Sen. Graham, should not continue to use Mexico and Central America as a political punching bag rather than an opportunity for lasting change. This hands the issue to the Republicans for complete exploitation in 2024.
About me: I am a Mexican-born US citizen based out of California. Currently, I am working out of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México while working on a political biography of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. This is my first story posted here. A variation of this appeared today in the student publication at La Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Quintana Roo.
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