Most countries around the world willingly signed onto the war on drugs over the past century, but the US has been the effort's biggest international backer since the 1970s. Particularly in Latin America, the US has supplied military supplies, training, and intelligence through multi billion-dollar programs like the Merida Initiative in Mexico and Plan Colombia. Although the war on drugs was launched with the good intention of stopping drugs that many around the world see as dangerous, it's been linked to many unintended consequences. Since 2006, powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico have enveloped the nation in a cycle of violence that's led to as many as 80,000 deaths. And the flow of drugs into the US and other developed countries, where most of the demand exists for illicit substances, shows no signs of slowing, with illegal drug prices as low as ever and US drug use actually up in the past couple decades. Last four sentences
The conventional wisdom says that most Latin American migrants who come to the United States are looking for a better life, inspired by the “American Dream.” And it’s hard to deny that there’s a lot of truth in that.
But there’s another side to the story — people leave Latin America because life there can be very hard. Poverty, political instability and recurring financial crises often conspire to make Latin American life more challenging than in the U.S., a wealthy country with lots of job opportunities.
Living on the northern side of the U.S.-Mexico border, it’s easy to view Latin America as another world, isolated from the United States. But the truth is that the U.S. government has historically made life in Latin America harder by overthrowing democratically elected governments, financing atrocities and pushing trade policies that undermine Latin American industries, dealing blows to local economies. Perhaps instead of building walls, the United States should focus on being a better neighbor.
