Unlike your humble reporter, someone at bloomberg.com watched Charlie Rose interview Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Apparently, Calderon repeated his thoroughly debunked but politically expedient claim that “drug-related violence is being fueled by illegal imports of U.S. guns that have surged since a ban on assault weapons ended in 2004.” That’s the agit-prop recap provided by Mayor Bloomberg’s homies, who are never influenced by the boss’s gun control agenda. Here’s the Mexican’s misegos, straight from the horse’s . . . mouth . . .
“The violence in Mexico started when the assault weapons ban expired,” Calderon asserted to an all-too-credulous Rose.
So now you know. Prior to September 13, 2004 there was no drug cartel-related violence south of the border. It all started because Americans couldn’t keep their damn guns to themselves. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any mass graves containing men and women slaughtered by the drug cartels as part of their subversion of Mexican democracy (such as it was) and internecine slaughter.
There are a lot of ways to dismiss Calderon’s absurd statement. Rather than link to hundreds of articles chronicling pre-’04 Mexican drug cartel-related violence—a Google search too far for Bloomberg’s minions—let’s let wikipedia.org do the dirty on Calderon’s laughable distortion.
When enforcement efforts intensified in South Florida and the Caribbean, the Colombian organizations formed partnerships with the Mexico-based traffickers to transport cocaine through Mexico into the United States.[30]
This was easily accomplished because Mexico had long been a major source of heroin and cannabis, and drug traffickers from Mexico had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the Colombia-based traffickers. By the mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine.
At first, the Mexican gangs were paid in cash for their transportation services, but in the late 1980s, the Mexican transport organizations and the Colombian drug traffickers settled on a payment-in-product arrangement. Transporters from Mexico usually were given 35 to 50 % of each cocaine shipment. This arrangement meant that organizations from Mexico became involved in the distribution, as well as the transportation of cocaine, and became formidable traffickers in their own right.
Claro? Needless to say, it gets worse. Bloomberg:
Authorities have seized more than 100,000 weapons in the past four years, 85 percent of which came from the U.S., Calderon said during an interview earlier at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. Sixty percent of the guns seized were assault weapons, including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, he added.
“All those weapons are not going to the good hands of the good American citizens — all those weapons are going to the hands of the criminals,” Calderon said. “They are killing people.”
Memo to Calderon: cut the shit. Your guys may have seized 100k weapons from the drug cartels in the last four years, but you and I know that 85,000 of them did NOT come from Bob’s Gun Store north of the border. Even the ATF couldn’t manage to smuggle more than a few thousand guns into Mexico.
Don’t tell me you forgot about that little business. Funny how you and Chuck neglected to discuss the Gunwalker scandal, in which the U.S. government enabled guns for Mexican drug thugs. Whereupon these esteemed members of your criminal syndicates used them to kill Mexicans. Oh, and a couple of U.S. federal agents.
But I guess that doesn’t count. And I supposed it’s easier to blame the NRA for your mess than the ATF. Either that or you have something to hide relative to your government’s relationship with the drug cartels.
Perish the thought. And perish the media that dares parrot this a-factual BS without fact checking, or deigning to grab a quote from someone willing to tell the truth about the ballistic instruments of violence in Mexico. And that is this: no matter where they come from or how they got there, guns in the hands of the narco-terrorists are a symptom of a disease, not its cause.
If Calderon wants to stop the cartel-related violence in Mexico, he should lobby the U.S. to legalize dope and restore his people’s right to keep and bear arms. Otherwise, what’s Spanish for STFU?
This fool couldn’t lead a class of preschoolers and he’s trying to tell us how the run the greatest country in the world. He needs to wake up and worry about the complete disaster that he’s overseeing in his own country.
This guy really has some set of balls.
Lulz. Awesome.
The Zetas have been around since 1999. They started out working for the Gulf Cartel, which was founded in the 70’s. Insertar los pies en la boca El Presidente.
It is against US law to export firearms without special permissions from our State Department. It is against Mexican law for most of their citizens to possess firearms at all. No Second Amendment south of the border. So this claimed flow of weapons into Mexico is already doubly illegal so these duffuses apparently want to make it triply illegal.
That said, I am sure some firearms confiscated by the Mexican authorities originated in the US. I have seen a long standing pattern of legal workers with Mexican roots carrying guns back to their friends and families on visits home. Since their possession is illegal in Mexico, if they are confiscated by the authorities they count as US crime guns though their purpose is only to provide a means of defense to otherwise helpless people. That’s totally separate from the flood of weapons to the cartels which is mainly through other countries, the Mexican army, or our own ATF.
Word has it that they can pick up cheap, full auto, knock offs of AK’s and AR’s in places like Honduras or El Sal for as little as $50. So why would the cartels want to spend over 1k for a semi auto AR here in the US, when they can have full auto rock n roll for less than it takes to fill up my car? I guess thats too much common sense for some to Also, I would love to see where they buy the gold plated AK’s that they keep showing on the news. Cant say Ive EVER seen one at a US gun shop..
Hey Calderon…STFU! Clean-up the mess in your third world desert of vomit before you comment about our country.
This clown is in bed with Obama trying to make a case for repealing the Second Amendment and to get immigration reform passed. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Stand tall America and defend ourselves with our votes against the enemies of freedom; both foreign and domestic.
I’m not sure about that one. Obama is too smart to jump into a losing issue like re instating the assault weapons ban. Calderon has been and always will be a windbag.
Plus that whole damn 2/3 of congress and 3/4 of states thing…
Charlie Rose is worthless. His questions have softer balls than Larry King. I mean Larry King’s, questions that is.
Invasion, anyone?
The people in Mexico love guns and most anyone who wants one knows who to go to for their choice of firearms. The people of Mexico know that the whole system is corrupt and the law is just a suggestion that you follow if you feel like it. When over 60% of all cars on the road are illegal because the cost for plates and so called insurance is so high owning a gun means little and the police can be bought off if you do get caught. It is amazing that a pocket knife can not be carried in your car as it is a dangerous weapon in Mexico but a machete is just fine as it is a tool. That is the way Mexico operates and it is not going to change as long as the people are good with the way things are, “It’s good enough” should be the Mexician motto.
Anyone here familiar with the writings of the late Edward Abbey? He was a passionate writer and novelist concerning the American Southwest, a pseudo environmentalist (you have to read him to understand the “pseudo” part of that) and a general curmudgeon/thorn in the side of whatever constituted the “establishment” at the time. He had a wise and practical solution to illegal Mexican immigration. Supply each arrested illegal with a handgun and a rifle and all the ammunition they could carry before sending them back to Mexico. In time, they would solve their social and economic problems and no longer have the need to leave their country.
I am so sick of this “I want to use every bad word I can think of” guy. I would ask why our media even gives him a platform, but since his message is anti-gun they mic him up.
If he was talking about his Catholic belief in stopping abortion they would cut the feed.
When they stop sending us illegal drugs and illegal aliens we’ll stop sending them illegal guns, comprende?
I am mexican and calderon.. it`s a …….. trash, nobody wants the president of war here in Mexico, Why? Cause he need army to goberment, and we (all the mexican people) need peace to work and live better. Mr. Calderon, please Go away and let it work, and please Get Away with your partners like chapo and others… jeje may be to… NY.
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