Darrell Castle talks about how the war on drugs has led to corruption both here in America and in Mexico, as well as a strategy for addressing it.

Transcription / Notes

CORRUPTION—NOTHING’S CHANGED IN 2000 YEARS

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report.  Today is Friday, August 17, 2018, and in this Report I will be talking about the subject of corruption, especially from the standpoint of the governments of the United States and Mexico.  In Mexico, recently elected President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will take office December 1st, armed with a public mandate to end corruption and violence caused by war with the drug cartels.

His political party, the National Regeneration Movement, will have a majority in both houses of Congress.  It’s been a long time since a Mexican President elect came to power with such an opportunity to actually complete his political agenda.  He campaigned much as did Donald Trump, who told us he would “drain the swamp”.  I doubt if Mr. Obrador ever used that term, but the concept is similar as is the agenda.  He and his incoming Interior Minister obviously view the cartel violence and corruption problems as linked together.

Mr. Obrador reportedly gave Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero instructions to tackle the cartel problems by whatever means seem necessary.  The legalization of drugs, especially marijuana and opium based drugs, would appear to be one means she is going to try.  Recently I read where Hillary Clinton said, in reference to the incoming Mexican administration, they can’t legalize drugs there’s too much money in it.

The reason there’s too much money in drugs is because they are illegal.  If they were legal, there would still be profit in producing and selling them, about as much profit as any other agricultural product.  The more harsh the laws against drugs, the more profitable they become.  Now the Mexican narcotraficantes have discovered the tremendous appetite Americans have for opioids, especially fentanyl, which can be prescribed legally by doctors but not in enough quantity to satisfy those addicted.  It is devastating because it is more addictive than heroin and more profitable.  I’ve discovered that it takes about $3300 to produce enough fentanyl to bring 1 million dollars street value in America.

Another tactic being discussed is some type of amnesty for the cartel members, but the problem is that almost all cartel members have been guilty of the most brutal crimes against people imaginable.  The usefulness of amnesty then will be limited, especially when you consider that those applying for it probably won’t survive the process.

What Ms. Cordero says she has in mind is at least considering the legalization and regulation of the opium trade, perhaps legalizing the sale of opium gum to pharmaceutical companies for production as with any legal drug.  A legal market for the country’s opium farmers would be created with the goal of stopping or at least reducing, warring over the control of opium growing areas.  The drug problems associated with addiction, such as disease, crime, etc., have also started to plague Mexico as well as the United States, so stopping the violence and cartel wars would benefit both countries.

The drug wars then, are one of the things that cause corruption but if people are so offended by corruption, and if corruption at the government level is especially hated by people, what is it?  What is a reasonable definition of "corruption"?  The dictionary definition of corruption is impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle, and depravity.  That is a fine definition but it doesn’t really explain why so many people are so offended by it.  In many countries, especially the Middle East, such countries as Egypt and Tunisia, rulers are being deposed, not for making themselves dictators but for corruption.  I would accept the definition of writer Doug Casey as being the better one; “a betrayal of trust for personal gain.