Washington should help end Mexico’s insecurity

Six months ago, police in Iguala, a small town 100 miles south of Mexico City, killed three students from a teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa. The officers then kidnapped 43 other students and handed them over to a drug cartel. The fate of the missing students is unclear to this day.

Mexican authorities should be held accountable for the students’ deaths and disappearance. But the U.S. must also accept its share of responsibility. Over the last decade, Washington spent more than $3 billion on training and equipment for Mexican security forces. It has allowed guns to fall in the hands of criminal gangs. Mexico’s stability and democracy have been shaken by the ongoing violence, some of which is fueled by U.S. involvement. The instability poses a serious security threat to the United States. To prevent further bloodshed and end impunity for human rights abuses, the U.S. must rethink its investments in Mexico.

The tragedy in Iguala is but one example of the intertwined relationship between the Mexican state apparatus and criminal organizations. Mexican citizens remain vulnerable and defenseless against criminals who hold government positions. For example, former Iguala Mayor José Luis Abarca Velázquez, who is implicated in the disappearance of the 43 students, was known for killing his political opponents. His wife ran the financial operations of the drug gang Guerreros Unidos. Similar examples abound across other Mexican municipalities. The result of such cozy relationships between elected officials and criminal gangs is a human rights crisis. Reports of torture are widespread. Human rights groups have repeatedly accused Mexican police and security forces of having “blood on their hands.”

President Barack Obama has pledged to maintain support for what he called Mexico’s “efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence.” But the underlying U.S. strategy to support Mexico, which consists mainly of military aid, is flawed. More aid to Mexico to buy additional weapons will only fuel more violence.

In June security forces killed 22 alleged members of a gang in the state of Mexico. Authorities initially claimed that the suspects died during a shootout with soldiers. But when testimonies of two survivors were leaked to the press, the public learned that many of them were executed after surrendering. We don’t know how many executions of this type the military has conducted over the last 10 years. Since 2006, more than 100,000 people have been killed, and more than 20,000 have disappeared. Yet these allegations have not deterred the U.S. from funding and training the Mexican military.

Most of the U.S. aid to Mexico is directed to security services. There are no indications that this will change anytime soon. In fact, the U.S. plans to invest $140 million in Mexico in the next fiscal year. Nearly $90 million of that is earmarked for security forces. This shortsighted strategy has been around for almost 10 years. It is time for U.S. policymakers to consider strengthening Mexican independent institutions, including the judicial system and local human rights commissions.

If history is any guide, building strong institutions is the only viable long-term solution to Mexico’s violence and instability. During World War II, German cities suffered enormous destruction from Allied bombs. At the end of the war, the U.S. invested heavily in Germany’s reconstruction, laying the foundations of robust democratic institutions. Germany is now a vibrant democracy and a strategic and stable U.S. partner.

The stakes in Mexico are much closer to home. And the U.S. bears a moral responsibility to restore the stability its policies helped erode. Its aid to Mexico has facilitated massacres and kidnappings and has severely crippled Mexican institutions at all levels. Thousands of mothers have lost their children, and whole communities have disappeared. It will take years and significant effort to rebuild what has been destroyed over the last decade.

It is time for the U.S. to stop financing the bloodshed in Mexico. Instead, Washington should invest in grass-roots-based democratic initiatives and support accountability and transparency for Mexican institutions. Mexico’s cash-strapped civil society can greatly benefit from U.S. support. Organizations dedicated to the promotion of accountability spend precious time scraping for funds to stay afloat. The U.S. should help fill this funding gap and support civil society groups working to strengthen Mexican democracy.

Mexico has some serious cleaning up to do. But the U.S. should reorient its aid and focus on the country’s long-term stability. A secure, stable and prosperous neighbor is in Washington’s best interest.