March, 26 2009, 12:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Mexico and the 'War on Drugs'
JOHN GIBLER This
week, Gibler is going back and forth between El Paso and Juarez,
Mexico. He is author of the new book "Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of
Power and Revolt." Gibler said today: "As the violence related to drug
trafficking plagues Mexico, the United States government still refuses
to acknowledge the failure of the so-called 'war on drugs' and to
initiate a real change in U.S. drug policy.
WASHINGTON
JOHN GIBLER This
week, Gibler is going back and forth between El Paso and Juarez,
Mexico. He is author of the new book "Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of
Power and Revolt." Gibler said today: "As the violence related to drug
trafficking plagues Mexico, the United States government still refuses
to acknowledge the failure of the so-called 'war on drugs' and to
initiate a real change in U.S. drug policy.
"The U.S. government refuses to acknowledge the violence and
corruption within its own borders and instead hopes to give hundreds of
millions of dollars to weapons contractors to further militarize the
border and aid the Mexican military and police forces that have been
found time and time again to support one or the other cartels battling
over territory and trafficking routes in Mexico.
"The untouchable issues in the United States continue to be
legalization and regulation. In 2006, the Mexican congress tried to
regulate small possession of many now-illegal plants and substances in
order to stop the explosion of killings generated by black market
trade, but then-President Vicente Fox quashed the bill after the Bush
administration condemned the progressive initiative. Even the Economist
magazine and a coalition of former presidents from Brazil, Colombia and
Mexico have made various proposals for legalization.
"The issue is not of violence 'spilling over' from Mexico to the
United States, but of the deeply transnational violence that will
always accompany a multi-billion dollar illegal industry with
entrenched networks both within and beyond national governments.
"If the current administration advertises change one can believe
in, they would change the entire paradigm of the drug war and address
both its economic reality and its social roots through regulation,
decriminalization, and treatment."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC sent a letter Monday to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Secretary Debbie-Anne Reese seeking final permission to begin operation on the MVP next month, even while acknowledging that much of the Virginia portion of the pipeline route remains unfinished and developers have yet to fully comply with safety requirements.
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"MVP brazenly asks for this authorization while simultaneously notifying FERC that the company has completed less than two-thirds of the project to final restoration and with the mere promise that it will notify the commission when it fully complies with the requirements of a consent decree it entered into with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration last fall," she continued.
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Russell Chisholm, co-director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) Coalition—which called MVP's request "reckless and impossible"—said in a statement that "we are watching our worst nightmare unfold in real-time: The reckless MVP is barreling towards completion."
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POWHR and activists representing frontline communities affected by the pipeline are set to take part in a May 8 demonstration outside project financier Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Appalachian Voices noted that MVP's request comes days before pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream is set to release its 2024 first-quarter earnings information on April 30.
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Demand Progress' Emily Peterson-Cassin similarly commended the commission "for taking a strong stance against this egregious use of corporate power, thereby empowering workers to switch jobs and launch new ventures, and unlocking billions of dollars in worker earnings."
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Democracy defenders on Tuesday hailed a ruling from a U.S. federal judge striking down a 19th-century North Carolina law criminalizing people who vote while on parole, probation, or post-release supervision due to a felony conviction.
In Monday's decision, U.S. District Judge Loretta C. Biggs—an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama—sided with the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute and Action NC, who argued that the 1877 law discriminated against Black people.
"The challenged statute was enacted with discriminatory intent, has not been cleansed of its discriminatory taint, and continues to disproportionately impact Black voters," Biggs wrote in her 25-page ruling.
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