War on drugs - danger of sanity outbreak

Members of Congress in Colombia are demanding the decriminalisation of some drugs.    The government and the USA oppose the move, but supporters say the ‘war on drugs’ has failed, and that the country has already paid a high enough price in blood.

Because drugs are illegal, millions of dollars flow into the hands of Latin American criminal gangs, providing most of their income.   Eight of the world’s 10 most violent countries are to be found in the region, and a mind-boggling 28,000 people are said to have been killed in Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ over the last four years.

The US government has said decriminalisation was ‘worth discussing’, but that there was no possibility of the Americans dropping their opposition to it.   So what would be the point of talking to them, you might ask.

Even so, the hard-line president of Guatemala has announced his support for the policy, while former presidents of Brazil , Mexico and Colombia have declared the ‘war on drugs’ a failure.   At next month’s Summit of the Americas, Latin American leaders who want a change of approach will get a chance to put forward their arguments.

(See also my blogs of May 28, June 10 and 12, Aug 18, Sept 10, 2010, and March 8, 2011.)

'War on drugs' spreads

Another 18 people have been added to the death toll in Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ as rival gangs fought gun battles in the north-eastern town of Abasolo. That brings the total number killed over the last five years to a staggering 34,000.

Now the ‘war’ is spreading, as the Mexican mafias move into neighbouring countries, such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The last two now have the highest murder rates in the world.

The mobs run training camps, and recruit among ex-soldiers laid off as defence spending has been cut. Central America is reckoned to have 70,000 young people who are members of gangs.

The countries involved are among the poorest in the world, and receive little outside help. (See also my blogs of June 10,12 and Sept 10, 2010.)

Guatemala storms

At least 150 people have been killed – most of them in Guatemala - because of heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Agatha. More than 3 feet fell on parts of the country causing rivers to burst their banks, and unleashing landslides. In the capital, Guatemala City, a giant sinkhole opened up and swallowed buildings.

The rescue effort has been hampered by the destruction of roads and bridges, and further rain is forecast. The disaster comes just days after more than 1,500 Guatemalans had to flee their homes because of the eruption of Mount Pacaya.

In 2005, Hurricane Stan killed more than 1,500 people in the country. Again, it was not the winds, but the floods and mudslides brought by torrential rain that did the damage.

Hurricane Mitch, the deadliest on the Atlantic in two centuries, caused more than 380 deaths in Guatemala in 1998, though the storm did its deadliest work in Honduras, where perhaps 14,000 were killed, and Nicaragua where the death toll was approaching 4,000.