Mexico's Homicide Spike Is Also a U.S. Problem

(Bloomberg View) -- The murder rate in Mexico is on track to reach a record high this year. Unfortunately, this is a crisis -- like the opioid epidemic in the U.S. that provides Mexican gangs with customers and profits -- that is immune to fast or easy solutions. The sooner presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump realize that, the better.

The rise in homicides can be blamed in part on the demise of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel who was extradited to the U.S. in January. The bloody turf wars sparked by his downfall have resulted in assassinations of mayors and journalists and gruesome “message killings” of rivals, as well as murders of innocent bystanders. All told, as many as 23,000 Mexicans died in the drug wars last year alone. Other crimes, including auto thefts and lucrative gasoline heists, are also on the rise.

Peña Nieto came into office in 2012 pledging to reduce homicides and violent crime. That hasn't happened. Worse, more Mexicans say they fear the state more than violent criminals. The overwhelming majority of crimes in Mexico go unreported, with almost half of citizens citing a lack of trust in the authorities.

In response to the violence, Mexico has deployed more military and federal police, and in some cases tolerated militias -- strategies that have led to human-rights abuses. Instead, there should be more focus on strengthening local police and establishing standards for their vetting, pay, and professional advancement.

Mexico's new adversarial judicial system is both fairer and more efficient. But its success depends on the continued professionalization of judges, prosecutors and public defenders.

In the past, U.S. assistance has supported these kinds of reforms. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is less inclined to pay for them. Even as gang killings in Mexico and opioid deaths in the U.S. surge -- Mexico now supplies more than 90 percent of U.S. heroin demand -- the White House wants to halve aid to Mexico.

Trump's threats to upend the North American Free Trade Agreement, not to mention his offensive tweets about Mexico more generally, have already cast a pall over the U.S.-Mexico partnership against the trade in illegal drugs. By themselves, U.S. plans for large-scale poppy eradication would almost certainly increase social and economic tensions that Mexico is ill equipped to handle.

Addressing the scourge of drugs -- whether in Mexico or the U.S. -- will require a shared, long-term partnership between both nations to reduce gang violence in Mexico. Both Trump and Peña Nieto need to pursue policies in their own countries that make bilateral cooperation easier, not more difficult.

--Editors: James Gibney, Michael Newman

To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg View's editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net.

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