Mexico supports the anti-drug approach that Gustavo Petro is beginning to promote

The Mexican government backed this Friday the proposal of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, regarding dismantling the repressive approach of the fight against drugs that the United States has promoted for half a century and that has failed to eradicate drug trafficking.

“The trend that is seen is to dismantle the thesis of (former United States President) Richard Nixon (1969-1974), who organized the war on drugs as a war, and approach the issue of consumption as a health problem and I think that It is a correct trend,” said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

During a dialogue with the American journalist Jon Lee Anderson in Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard pointed out that after enormous efforts against drug trafficking “the only thing that has been achieved is that everyone is armed, those who are linked to this business, and consumption is not reduced nor will it be reduced”.

“So (Petro) says: ‘why don’t we think about it, why don’t we review it?’, and he’s right,” he added.

Since coming to power on August 7, Petro has denounced the failure of the repressive policy against drugs and encouraged Washington to define a new strategy to prevent consumption in developed economies, and end the persecution of coca growers in Colombian jungles.

On October 3, during a visit by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to Colombia, both governments agreed to give a more comprehensive treatment to the problem.

Colombia remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine and the United States the main consumer.

In Mexico, for its part, some of the most powerful cartels operate with branches in numerous countries and equipped with weapons that enter illegally from the United States.

Under a thesis similar to that of Petro, Mexico and the United States agreed a little over a year ago on a new alliance to combat organized crime called “Bicentennial Understanding”, which replaced the Mérida Initiative, a pact to combat the smuggling of hallucinogens militarily. .

Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders, most attributed to criminal organizations, since the launch of that offensive in December 2006.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, from the left like Petro, assures that his strategy to confront the problem of violence in the country is based on reducing poverty and giving opportunities to young people.

Meanwhile, the Colombian government promotes a policy of “total peace”, with which it intends to negotiate the disarmament and submission to justice of guerrillas and drug trafficking organizations, respectively.

López Obrador refuses to negotiate with the criminals.