Nostalgia for Caviar, The Fentanyl Comedy Musical

During a good part of his more than four years in office, President López did not seem to be greatly concerned with any of the issues related to the so-called drugs. The drug cartels did not occupy an important position in his narrative, nor did the transfer to the United States, the corrupting power of dirty money, the criminal control of large territories or the growing number of addicts in our country.

But it became a public health problem in the United States and therefore an electoral issue. Thus, the accusations against Democratic President Joe Biden began for his weakness before a Mexican government that proposes hugs and not bullets. In addition to immigration and energy issues, Republicans found a political vein in the fentanyl epidemic that last year killed more than 100,000 Americans.

The accusations against the Democrats have been accompanied by strong pressure on the Mexican government to attack with greater force the cartels that operate in our territory, especially that of Sinaloa (CS) and the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). In the extreme, Republican lawmakers and politicians have proposed sending troops to fight them. Fentanyl has become a weak point for Biden and López Obrador. Additionally, the DEA has supported this cause by accusing, in all forums, the Mexican cartels of being the main suppliers of fentanyl pills.

Faced with these pressures, AMLO has resorted to his bag of tricks to try to evade the issue. He denies that fentanyl is produced in Mexico. It is “punched” would say the Secretary of Defense, Luis Crescencio Sandoval. He accuses the Pentagon of spying and reacts against the DEA’s statement that it spies on the Chapitos and infiltrates them. Acts of violation of our sovereignty, he says.

In the war that the Mexican president wages against fentanyl, extremes have been reached, on the one hand, tragic and, on the other, ridiculous. There are versions that indicate that this substance, essential for anesthetics and the relief of severe pain, has begun to be scarce. Very serious. In the same way, all the officials related to the subject, from López Gatell to the Secretary of Security (that is to say) deny that it is elaborated in Mexico.

In order to please his boss, he has gone to absurd lengths. On the morning of May 4, the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Rafael Ojeda, vehemently contested a couple of videos that the journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva had shown on the news the night before. Ciro pointed out that the videos were from two British chains and that they demonstrated, according to their authors, how fentanyl was manufactured in Sinaloa.

Admiral Ojeda analyzed the videos and came to the conclusion that they did not show the manufacture of fentanyl, a substance that is rarely used in Mexico, but methamphetamine, something that is used in our country. Ah well it’s meth nothing to worry about! All this shows that the government is not concerned about addictions, the massacres of organized crime or the control they exercise in vast areas of the republic, but that the United States does not put pressure on AMLO. It is not a matter of sovereignty, but of image.

Of course, I do not fail to note that the issue is electoral in the United States and each pays for their cause. For the Republicans it is another vein to hit the Democrats and, incidentally, falsely claim that the undocumented are “mules” who bring fentanyl to that country. They kill two birds in one attack: drugs and migration. For her part, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Anne Milgram is radicalized at a time of weakness of her agency. She is apparently being investigated by the Justice Department for improperly awarding millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her former associates, as well as for abuse of power.

The cherry on the cake was put by the Chapitos with their moving letter in which they call themselves “scapegoats” and assure that they have never manufactured fentanyl. That they don’t know about that. It seems that the epistolary genre is good for the Chapitos and President López. By the way, both say they are victims of campaigns that try to “dirty” their image. They are honest criminals (I mean the Chapitos), not horrible manufacturers of that devilish substance.

All this staging by Americans and Mexican authorities would be a great script for Monty Python or Mr. Bean, it’s ridiculous to the point of unintentional comedy, but the problem is that there are lives that are lost. Despite the fact that the fight against drugs by police, soldiers and useless campaigns has proven to be a failure and has only served to cement careers and fortunes, they prefer to continue. Drugs are fought with doctors, psychologists, teachers, good guidance and support. The rest is just ineffective and bloody.