This was hardly the first time that US leaders adopted bullying tactics toward Mexico (as well as other countries) about aspects of the drug war. It also seemed more than coincidental that the new round of pressure coincided with Mexico’s growing receptivity to decriminalization of drugs, including legalization of marijuana cultivation and recreational use. DEA and other committed drug warriors are not happy about that development.
Indeed, the tone-deaf quality of the Trump administration’s conduct toward Mexico on the drug issue was striking. Admittedly, the level of drug-related violence in Mexico has reached alarming proportions, as I have documented here, here, and here. But US leaders steadfastly refuse to accept the reality that the growing strength of the violent Mexican drug cartels is the inevitable result of the lucrative consumer black market that Washington’s own drug prohibition policies have created.
Instead, the Trump administration pressured the Mexican government to further militarize its response to the cartels. At the moment that Mexico appeared to be adopting a less militant approach to the issue of illegal drugs, Trump published a tweet stating that “this is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR (sic) on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president! [Lopez Obrador]” He added: “If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively.” It was not entirely clear what Trump was offering, but it appeared to be at least CIA counterinsurgency assistance and perhaps even a direct role for US troops. In any case, Lopez Obrador politely but firmly rejected the offer.
Key congressional leaders clearly had a more extensive US security role in mind. In two interviews on Fox News, Sen. Tom Cotton (R‑AR) warned ominously: “If the Mexican government cannot protect American citizens in Mexico, then the United States may have to take matters into our own hands.” Cotton did not seem overly concerned about whether the Mexican government wanted greater US involvement.
Washington’s abrasive behavior toward Mexico (and other hemispheric neighbors) has a long, dirty history. One graphic example occurred in 1969, even before President Richard Nixon formally declared a “war” on drugs two years later. Washington sought to obtain Mexico’s cooperation for a new program of US aerial reconnaissance of suspected drug fields and for “chemical crop destruction” efforts. At a bilateral meeting in June 1969, Nixon administration officials presented Washington’s “request.” Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy, one of the Treasury Department high-level officials at that meeting, recalled what happened. “The Mexicans, using diplomatic language of course, told us to go piss up a rope.” The Nixon administration, Liddy emphasized “didn’t believe in the United States’ taking crap from any foreign government. Its reply was Operation Intercept.”
That measure was the application of a maximum-right-to-search policy at the border. Soon, traffic and commerce between the two countries ground to a halt. Cars (and especially large trucks) were subjected to detailed searches, and delays at border crossings ballooned to 6 hours or more in 100 degree heat. Not surprisingly, Mexico soon capitulated to the US policy demands. Liddy was candid about the exercise. “It was an exercise in international extortion, pure and simple, designed to bend Mexico to our will.”
The recent incidents indicate that while the tactics may have become a little less crude, the underlying objective remains the same. So, too, does the underlying arrogance and bullying mentality. Drug warriors continue to be the quintessential Ugly Yankee.