Line Between Mexican Drug Cartels and the Government Increasingly Blurred

In what can be viewed as an alarming and further blurring of the lines between the Mexican government and Mexico’s highly violent drug cartels, Julio Cesar Godoy Toscano, who had been actively (exactly how “actively” is debatable) sought on drug trafficking charges, was sworn into the Mexican Congress Sept. 23, 2010. As a member of the Mexico’s Cámara de Diputados or Chamber of Deputies (like our House of Representatives) Godoy is now exempt from prosecution on those charges for at least five years. The Chamber of Deputies could take steps to remove Godoy, how vigorously they pursue that action remains to be seen.

In reality some feel that that the political will to challenge his status isn’t very strong in this 500-plus member body and, more precariously, it would pit a politician against a reputed member of a drug cartel, an uncomfortable stance for any life-loving politician in Mexico to take. Godoy is a lawyer and a member of the left leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution, or the PRD. In a further development, the Juarez newspaper El Diario is reporting that Mexico’s Interior Minister, Francisco Blake, will consider procedures to have Godoy removed from office and made to face charges of organized crime. It is uncertain if this will really happen and regardless, this whole situation may wind up in the Mexican judicial system (which is another ethics challenged branch of Mexican government) but, we’ll see.

Godoy had previously been the mayor of the small town of Lázaro Cárdenas, an important “check point” for U.S. illegal drugs moving north through the western Mexican state of Michoacán. Godoy was appointed to the post after the former mayor resigned in a corruption scandal and Godoy’s half brother, the governor of the state of Michoacán, Leonel Godoy Rangel, appointed him mayor. Julio Cesar Godoy is reputed to have ties to the ultra-violent drug cartel La Familia Michoacana and police had been “looking” for him since May, 2009. He was sought as part of a wider roundup of reputed drug criminals in 2009 but had eluded police since shortly after his election to Congress. From a total of 27 government officials arrested, including ten small town mayors picked up in this particular round up, 20 have since been released.

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Once Godoy disappeared, his party, the PDR, denounced the raid as a political stunt orchestrated by rival political party, the more right leaning Partido Acción Nacional which translates to National Action Party or PAN, the party of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Of course Calderón recently stood in the well of the United States Capitol and arrogantly denounced Arizona’s SB 1070 law, but he has now announced the construction of Mexico’s own wall as part of stepped-up immigration/illegal drug enforcement on its southern border. The irony — not to mention the hypocrisy — is delicious.

One certain way for Godoy to dodge the charges hanging over him was to take his seat in Congress thus taking advantage of a Mexican blanket immunity law that dates to the late 19tj century and was originally intended to shield Mexican politicians from harassment by opponents and others while in office. Godoy’s path to office was cleared by an allegedly cartel-corrupted judge in Michoacán earlier this year. Very few high-profile criminals actually face prosecution and jail sentences in Mexico if they are “well-connected” like Godoy.

Godoy managed to make his way to Mexico City and even more impressively slip through the police dragnet encircling the legislative compound searching for him and into the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro. Godoy managed this feat by changing his appearance with a shave and grayer hair. Then, after hiding out in the compound for a few days, he emerged into the Chamber of Deputies looking very dapper, where he was promptly sworn in as a new Congressman. Immunity seemingly achieved.

As alarming as this all might seem to a sane person – in reality it’s all Mexico’s problem – isn’t it? Well, my real concern is that hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have poured into Mexico for the Mexican government to battle the very cartels of which Godoy is reputedly a member. This obvious incongruity should be a concern for the U.S. government from the White House on down to local U.S. border town officials. My question is – exactly how thoroughly tainted is Mexico’s government with cartel drug money? Why are we seemingly funding and fighting the same entities simultaneously? This sounds like our current relationship with the likes of Afghanistan or Pakistan – pay us and we’ll cooperate with you, or perhaps more precisely “pay us and we’ll act like we’re cooperating with you,” but I digress.

Some $400 million of U.S. taxpayer’s money has already made its way into Mexican governmental hands, and hundreds of millions more are in the pipeline. Is our taxpayer money being administrated by government officials whose big smiles, outstretched hands, expensive shoes and nice suits belie their duplicitous actions and cartel affiliations? Are we paying the very cartels we think we are assisting Mexico to eradicate? Who is auditing the way U.S. tax payer cash is being used by Mexico? Exactly whose pockets are our tax dollars are being tucked into, and is anybody checking?

I’d hope that inquiring Obama Administration or U.S. Congressional minds might want to know.