The situation in Mexico has become increasingly volatile since 2006. After a semester of
research, the National Security Policy Group has come up with a list of recommendations that
can help reduce the violence in Mexico and further weaken the cartels.
Recommendations to Move Forward:
· The Mexican government can better use its military and law enforcement personnel by:
o Specializing portions of its military forces to deal with specific facets of the war on
drugs by significantly reforming military training procedures, departmentalizing the
military and integrating these departments into a larger bureaucratic system, and
o Launching a more aggressive public relations campaign specifically targeting the major
leaders of the cartels in order to reduce the culture of fear and helplessness created by
the cartels.
· The Mexican government must fight corruption at all governmental levels. It should:
o Revise its federal reelection process to create greater accountability mechanisms for
politicians in office,
o Implement a more transparent fund flow between federal and state governments,
o Allow for greater public participation in the selection of judges, and
o Reform the wage system, and improve training, resource allocation and accountability
mechanisms for law enforcement officers.
· The Mexican government should take action to strengthen its community-level efforts by:
o Building strong communities in which people have a wide set of options for legitimate
careers by greater subsidizing education and focusing on community initiatives
o Maintaining the status quo with regards to community-level self-governance and
vigilante efforts.
· The United States government should reinforce its counter-financing of narcotics efforts by:
o Strengthening its intelligence collection and analysis capabilities, and
o Drafting the necessary legislation to compel banks to freeze the assets of individuals
associated with narcotics activities.
· The United States government should strengthen its efforts to prevent U.S.-made weapons
from falling into cartel hands by:
o Making identification requirements for firearms and ammunition more stringent, and
o Creating a task force to help Central American countries locate, document and secure
old stockpiles of U.S. weapons that were abandoned in these countries.
· The United States should increase the size and scope of the Mérida Initiative by:
o Labeling the Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations,
o Focusing on training and equipping Mexican military personnel, and
o Tying Mérida Initiative funds to initiatives by local and state Mexican governments.
· Lastly, the United States government should continue to place significant emphasis on