Mexico and the Drug War: Caravan for Peace, Life and Justice Calls for End of Drug War

Academic Adolfo Gilly and Maria Herrera, who seeks her four sons,
during the forum at the Museum of the City of Mexico
Photo: Cristina Rodriguez

La Jornada: José Antonio Román

During a forum held Monday morning in the Museum of the City of Mexico, members of the Caravan for Peace, Life and Justice, whose representatives included priests, academics, researchers, intellectuals and activists, called for an end "to the war on drugs'', which has left hundreds of thousands of victims and also provided huge profits to those who control money and political power.

At the forum organized by the caravan and Mexican civil society organizations, they noted that this ''war'' is promoted by the economic interests of the most powerful countries and has left in the Mesoamerican nations [Mexico and Central America] scourges such as the militarization of public security, forced internal displacement, disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, corruption and impunity.

Speakers warned that our societies can not continue to cede their rights to the ''terrible and absurd '' fight against drugs, which has resulted in most of the countries of Central America and Mexico being among the most violent nations in the world.

The caravan, which began on March 28 in Honduras and has traveled through El Salvador and Guatemala to reach Mexico, has New York City as its final destination, on April 18, the eve of the UN General Assembly Special Session [April 19-21] to discuss international drug policy.

Laura Carlson, director of the Americas Program; Martin Baraona, emeritus bishop of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador, and Alex Sierra of Global Exchange, all of them members of the caravan, noted that the aim is to demand that the UN have an open dialogue that provides a path to alternative policies. They highlighted the high social cost that the policy of drug prohibition and the war on drugs has had. In their statements, they called for prioritizing respect for human rights and the reduction of violence,

The Dominican priest, Miguel Concha, the historian Adolfo Gilly, and the executive director of the Mexican Committee for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, José Antonio Guevara, emphasized the great importance of this caravan to understand what really is behind this ''war'', which is the interests of those who control money and political power.

The priest Miguel Concha questioned why President Enrique Peña Nieto won't attend the special session of the UN, although he was one [of the presidents of Latin America] who asked for it to be convened.

''Enough of death, violence and military and police control of the territories and the people.''

MV Note: In November 2012, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, near the end of his term, and a group of Central American presidents, petitioned the Organization of American States to carry out an indepth analysis of the impact that legalizing marijuana in Central America would have. In June of 2013, the OAS issued a call to the UN to convene a special session of the UN General Assembly to reconsider its conventions against drugs. The last Special Session was in 1998 and a formal review process was held in 2008. See MV's page on the history of UN Drug Conventions and the central role of the U.S. in formulating and enforcing them.

Adolfo Gilly said that 

''in opposition to the arbitrariness and self-absorbed madness of those in power,'' the caravan is "recovering solidarity between peoples and working as a collective to transcend borders in the spirit of raising its voice against death and to work for peace, justice and dignity."

It was also suggested that this movement and the one in defense of the land and territory are part of the reaction of society to the same phenomenon, which is the ''terrible civilizational crisis'' facing humanity. Spanish original