Mexico has fallen into trouble, yet again. The country went into midterm polls on Sunday and violent drug cartels quite clearly ruled the roost. The entire exercise became a show of strength for the influential drug cartels and this tumult spells trouble for bordering areas in the US that are already reeling under growing illegal immigration and an upsurge in criminal activity.
The elections in Mexico have been dominated by sheer violence. Hundreds of politicians and electoral workers have been attacked and dozens of them killed. A severed human head thrown at a polling station in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and plastic bags filled with body parts marked the midterm elections as Mexicans cast their ballot in an atmosphere of chaos and crime. The violence is unsurprisingly getting attributed to Mexico’s biggest trouble makers- the drug cartels.
The rampant electoral violence in Mexico reinforces the chaotic image of the North American nation. Make no mistake, Mexico is actually a rich nation that figures amongst the world’s largest producers of crucial resources like oil, natural gas, gold and zinc.
Mexico was not supposed to be the hotbed of criminal activity that it has become. But it is really the Mexican geography that puts the country at disadvantage. Mexico borders the United States of America- the largest consumer of illicit drugs. This allowed marijuana growers and traders in Mexico to form cartels and exploit the American market.
Worse still, Mexico also borders Central and South American nations. The net result is that some of the biggest cocaine cartels in the world operating from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia dispatch their produce into the US via Mexico. So, Mexico really serves as a gateway for the supply of lethal drugs into the US. In fact, 65 per cent of the cocaine refined in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia find their way into the US through Mexico.
Apart from cocaine and marijuana, Mexico has also become a major source of methamphetamines consumed in the US since at least 2017 as per the US Department of State’s annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR).
The operation of drug cartels and Mexico’s favourable location as a transit destination has made it a hub of transnational crime. If the Mexican State is perceived as one of the most corrupt regimes in the world today, the drug cartels are to be blamed for it.
In fact, when the drug cartels want to assert control inside Mexico, they resort to gang violence and organised crime. A similar round of chaos was visible during the midterm polls presumably as a part of a larger effort by drug traffickers to influence polling.
Outside Mexico, the latest turn of events should send warning bells ringing for the US. More crime in Mexico and stronger drug cartels is actually very bad news for the bordering areas in the US. The ongoing violence in Mexico will create more criminals as well as victims eager to cross over into American territory, while drug cartels try to exploit the situation and flood the US with lethal drugs.
For the US, Biden’s policy of opening American borders to illegal immigration is creating a vicious cycle. Biden’s open borders policy allows drug cartels to operate freely, smuggle their product into the US and become formidable. Stronger drug cartels then go berserk in Mexico which again accelerates the level of illegal immigration and smuggling into the United States.
Directly or indirectly, Biden’s policies have contributed to a fresh set of chaos in Mexico and it can easily lead to an even bigger immigration crisis in the US.