Posted on 04/19/2007 12:42:47 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
In Mexico, the war against crime is also a war against law enforcement. If that seems like a head-scratcher, it is. But the paradox is real, and it is disturbing. Corruption has blurred the line between the good guys and the bad guys.
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Mexican President Felipe Calderón has launched a campaign against crime. Others have done the same, but Calderón is different. He recognizes something that eluded too many of his predecessors: You cannot fight crime without fighting the criminal element within law enforcement.
In what observers called the biggest crackdown on organized crime in years, government officials recently arrested 112 police officers in the border state of Nuevo León, the Express-News reported. Those arrested include beat cops and state police detectives. It was the first phase of what is expected to be an ongoing purge of dirty cops.
"The state was originally created to provide security and justice," Oscar Martinez, a doctor, told the newspaper. "If the state's not providing it, then what is it doing?"
For decades, the answer was shocking: The state was condoning the violence or, worse, exacerbating it. Those days may be ending. Calderón has provided the necessary leadership.
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Not that in the USA we’re all Snow Whites or Rebeccas of Sunnybrook Farms, but why does corruption seem to be more endemic in non-first world societies? As far as Mexico goes (and the rest of Latin America as well) crappy corrupt government is par for the course. Oh well, the Left would love to blame ALL of Latin America’s problem on the gringos—I would say they are partially right because we have manipulated the politics in the region to a great degree for years, and have preferred dictators to rule instead of fostering democracy.
But I say, what if we have had a totally “light footprint” in Latin America for the last 125 years or so? They’d still have crappy corrupt government. Is it something in the Latino psyche that craves a “caudillo”—a strongman? Do they love to be politically b*tch slapped over and over again? It isn’t just latinoamericanos-—Russians, Arabs & others have the same proclivities. I guess I am a North American chauvinist.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Indeed, this is part of their culture. It will take years to overcome.
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