His particular approach based on the chronological series of historic events clearly explains the process that transformed cocaine from being a medical commodity to an illicit drug. In “Andean cocaine”, nothing is left to chance, the author is able to clearly explain the causes and the consequences that connect all the events, countries and people in the infamous history of coke. What I found extremely captivating of the book was its relation to several study fields: from medicine to anthropology, or from history to geography, without forgetting to mention branches of politics and sociology, “Andean Cocaine” offers readers from different backgrounds an enriching reading. The book by Gootenberg represents an incredible useful source of knowledge not only for a novice reader who is looking for an introduction to the history of cocaine, but also for a specialist in the field who wants to have a more general overview on how different agents, countries and time periods are all connected to coke’s marketisation process.
Murder fever wandering around Texas? Are Mexicans still hurt and devastated? Do Americans even honor this day? In 1846, there was some dispute about the Mexican American border. Mexico felt that the officially fair border was along the Nueces River. Americans had a different thought. Americans felt as if the correct and appropriate border was along the Rio Grande RIver. On April 25th, 1846 approximately 70 soldiers by a much larger Mexican force, this incident occurred in the disputed area. Reporters suggest that 16 Americans were allegedly killed by the larger Mexican army force, yet the number of Mexicans is still unknown to this day. If the Americans won by devastating many Mexicans than why won't they do the least by remembering this day. Which also sets the question, did the Americans have reason to go to war with mexico? I believe that the American’s did not have reason to go to war with mexico. First, because the U.S. invaded our supposed territory. The next reason is because the U.S. were basically daring the Mexican’s to go to war with the U.S. Lastly, because special effort was made for farmers to enter the Mexican territory. For those reasons
Manifest Destiny, a term coined by writer John L O’Sullivan, was used extensively throughout the 19th century to explain and justify American expansion throughout North America. Manifest Destiny is the idea that the United States had the unquestionable duty to acquire territory in North America as a means to spread the notion of democracy throughout North America, especially to ethnic groups who were not white (Henderson 137). Specifically, the term is often used to explain how the United States unequivocally acquired the newly independent territory of Texas along with an immense proportion of Mexican territory in the Southwest region of North America, extending American territory further south by establishing the Rio Grande river as
Back in the 1980’s, the drug cartels of Colombia were the cause of chaos all over the world – especially in the United States. In fact, at the height of their power, the Bogotá cartel supplied ninety per cent of Uncle Sam’s cocaine. The cartel was barbaric; assassinating anyone who stood in their way. To add to this, they also had the majority of the law enforcement system on their payroll. And, of course, at the heart of all of this was drug lord Carlos Ruiz and his loyal vice, Pablo Álvarez. The only hope for stopping them was newly elected president, Horacio Ibáñez.
According to Brianna Lee in Mexico’s Drug War, “more than 90 percent of cocaine now travels through Mexico into the United States, up from 77 percent in 2003.” Therefore, drug trafficking is at a higher
When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, a string of ruthless dictators and weak presidents made Mexico an easy target for its powerful neighbor, the United States. The US swooped in to expand its territory and its popular institution of slavery. By doing so, the US started a war with Mexico that was justified for illegitimate reasons. The Mexican-American War was not justified because the US took Mexico’s land for the expansion of slavery, and justified their taking advantage of Mexico when it was politically weak by hiding behind Manifest Destiny.
The War on Drugs has been criticized for its inability to decrease drug users and drug related crimes. The US government’s methods combat illicit drug crimes have made people question the main motives of War on Drugs. Since the US government declared the War on Drugs asset forfeiture has been widely used by law enforcement agencies to reduce drug criminals influence. Asset forfeiture is effective in tackling illegal drug crimes and funding government agencies, but the laws about asset forfeiture has been controversial due to its questionable profit incentives for law enforcement and inability to protect property owners from unfair seizures.
Conflict between Mexico and the United States began when Texas, previously part of Mexico, became part of the United States. The Mexican government believed that the border between Mexico and America
Transporting drugs is an issue towards the U.S. and labeled it as an act of criminalization. Immigrants in all foreign countries established the mark of trafficking drugs, which deserves severe civil-immigration consequences. “Congress expanded the class with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 16 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, 17 the Immigration Act of 1990, 18 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996” (“Policing Immigrant,” 2015). Although, considering the issue of drug transportation the government should make the criminal law enforcement stricter by increasing jail time. Applying to this law enforcement there should also be high quality x-rays to expose any vehicle transporting to America. Considering the fact that the immigrants’ propagandas, showcases criminal acts that produces negative thoughts from American citizens. Therefore, strengthening law enforcements will prevent from immigrants to keep coming to America, and transporting drugs causing from having a
Mexican-American war is the war between the United States and Mexico that began in 1846 and ended in 1848. The United States and Mexico disagreed over the border between the countries. President John Tyler and James k. Polk wanted Mexican territory that was blocking US expansion West in pursuance of Manifest Destiny. Before 1836, Texas was originally the northern part of Mexico which used to be called the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas became the 28th state of the United States. It directly led to the war. The United States ambitions toward the Mexican lands in the West were getting the situation worse and increasing the conflict.
To begin, Vidal points out that, “both the Bureau of Narcotics and the Mafia want strong laws against the sale and use of drugs because if drugs are sold at cost there would be no money in it for anyone” (par. 10). This statement
The serious effects of drug trafficking are initially seen in the 1980s, as the cocaine craze, engulfed the United States’ populace, creating a huge market demand. The mighty drug syndicates in Colombia filled this demand and according José Hemando Gomez, “the value of cocaine trafficking peaked in 1982 at US$2,191million” (HARTLYN, 1993, p. 10) Colombia has often been branded a failed state, as a result of the sovereign government’s inability to have effective control over the nation (Peter Hough, 2015, p. 227). Weakened state structures allowed the rise of transnational drug syndicates to influence Colombia and create a misconception that drug
While searching for an opinion based article and after reading several vague and unexciting hooks off every article’s introduction I found Don Winslow’s “America’s war on drugs is empowering Mexico’s drug cartels” a must read. With Winslow’s dispute toward America and its leaders, his opinion of how mediocre their effort is toward the war on drugs is spot on. Although not anti-government Winslow stresses how the government’s insufficient interest in thoroughly dealing with the ongoing war on drugs compared to other conflicts in the Western hemisphere is helping the cartel thrive. However, although considered a war by many, including myself, Winslow sees it more than just a war but an act of terrorism with money being the ultimate goal. Needless
Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. There’s a lot going on around the world and even more conflicts. Some main conflicts are poverty, politics, resources, governance, and etc. A few minor conflicts are drugs, medicine, technology, and more. Drugs are everywhere and there’s no way to stop having them around. Territory is something everybody wants but can’t have it all. Well, in Mexico territory is a huge thing that their people are willing to kill each other for it.
for drugs and cocaine and the potential profits to be made, drug cartels have been battling violently with each other for control of territory in Mexico. And since December 2006, the Mexican government, itself, has been battling with the cartels and drug traffickers (CNN). Mexican President Felipe Calderon “launched a war on the cartels”. “The new president promised that an increasingly violent Mexico would at last become a nation of laws” (Corchado). His method was somewhat successful. They managed to capture or kill “the heads of different cartels. But the unexpected consequences was an explosion of violence throughout the country as lower-level cartel members fought to fill the power vacuum” (Gomez). While Mexico fought the cartels, the cartels fought each other. The condition in Mexico was grim. “Less than 20% of those detained on drug trafficking charges in Mexico were convicted. Cops were underpaid and undertrained and relied on bribes to put food on the table. Millions of young males and females in Mexico were the perfect target for recruiters of drug traffickers” (Corchado). Two of the most notorious drug cartels, which are responsible for most of the brutal violence and heavy trafficking, are the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is the most dominant and led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. The Gulf Cartel is situated in Matamoros and was one of the “most powerful cartels”