Geopolitics

The narco-trafficker war, is there any chance for Felipe Calderon ?

For years, Mexico has been blamed for not caring about the increasing drugs traffic, causing deaths and economic issues among the country.
In December 2006, a new president has been elected, with a program including the huge hot topic which is the war against drug gangs, as the highest priority in the country. Felipe Calderon, the new president, decided then to involve Mexico army in this war, with a view to reduce the strong consequences brought.
This map shows the different cartels in Mexico and their influence in this country. We can see there that their influence is huge, and several sources, especially among the CIA, indicates that more than 100 000 ‘soldiers’ has been registered around Mexico.

Moreover, during the two first years of the Calderon presidency, more than 20 000 weapons have been reached by the army, and they were pretty much similar as the ones used by the local authority. This declaration implies a relationship between the drug gangs and the authority, which is a hard truth for the Mexican government. Indeed, if they cannot count on the support of the local authorities, if the corruption has gained the entire country, the army could become weaker and weaker during the next years.
However, since recently, the United States of America have decided to join Felipe Calderon and to army to fight against the increasing drug issue.
Indeed, as the most important house of drug demand, the United States of America have considered themselves as involved in this problem. The South of the USA is the temple of drugs consumers, imported directly from the Mexican plantations, first located in the North of Mexico, but now almost everywhere in Mexico. According to an estimation published by CIA in 2007, the plantations of opium in Mexico would cover 6 900 hectares, that is a potential of production of 18 tons of pure heroin or 50 tons of black tar heroin. The culture of