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Due to their 2,000-mile-long shared
border, Mexico’s problems affect the
United States. The U.S. government
estimates that more than 70 percent of
the illegal drugs—including marijuana,
cocaine, and heroin—that are smuggled
into the United States each year comes
from drug cartels operating in Mexico.
Since 2008, under a plan called the
Mérida Initiative, the U.S. government
has provided more than $1.2 billion in
financial assistance to help the Mexican
government wage the narco war. Mexico
and the United States have also worked together to stop illegal immigration
while enabling Mexican laborers to find jobs in the U.S., as well as on initiatives
promoting clean air and water.
Many people believe that improving the economy of Mexico would reduce
poverty, which in turn would alleviate problems like drug smuggling and
immigration. Over the past 20 years, Mexico has been a leading proponent of free
trade—allowing the exchange of goods between countries without imposing
13
Mexico Today
A Mexican soldier checks vehicles for drugs at
a checkpoint on the U.S.-Mexico border in
Ciudad Juárez. At the height of the narco war
in 2008-09, this city on the Rio Grande had
the highest murder rate in the world.