Martín Paredes

A Cohesive U.S.-Mexico Drug Policy: Is Mexico embarking on Drug Legalization?

Many in the U.S., especially the U.S. government, were mystified with Mexico’s recent decriminalization of small quantities of drugs for personal use. Some have even suggested that this shows that Mexico is seeking to legalize drugs in order to solve the pervasive drug problems the country faces both from a consumption and production standpoint. For those who can fully appreciate the differing points of view each country has, this recent action by Mexico makes perfect sense and does not signify a premise that legalizing drugs is the way to solve the drug issues.

An essay: A day chasing death in Juárez: But how dangerous is it, really?

Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you’ve probably heard that Cd. Juárez is the most dangerous city in North America. So just how dangerous is it? Our sister city is in the midst of a long and arduous war of willpower between citizens who still believe in their city and criminals who want to wrest control away from the community in order to ply their deadly concoction in an attempt to mask life’s everyday problems for those who are too lazy to deal with life head on. And regardless of what you may think the solution to the problem is, you are likely to agree that Juárez is not a safe city. But really, how dangerous is Juárez?

INICIATIVA MÉRIDA: Un Nuevo Paradigma de Cooperación en Materia de Seguridad
22 octubre 2007

Merida Initiative
Thomas A. Shannon, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Testimony Before the Senate Committee On Foreign Relations
Washington, DC
November 15, 2007

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lugar, and Members of the Committee:

US Government Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 22, 2007

Joint Statement on the Merida Initiative: A New Paradigm for Security Cooperation

Following is the text of a joint statement issued on October 22, 2007.