In keeping with the previously posted Venezuela edition, following are a few regional stories that came out during the holidays that are worth keeping in mind.
"I think and I hope this is the beginning of the end of a long process that began in 1983 with the return of democracy." - Gastón Chillier, director of the Buenos Aires-based Center for Legal and Social Studies, as told to the Washington Post's Juan Forero in a report on Argentina's Dirty War trials.
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"Would you rather destabilize small countries in the Caribbean or Mexico, which shares a 2,000-mile border with the U.S., is your third-biggest trading partner and has 100 million people?" - anonymous Mexican government official
The Wall Street Journal's David Luhnow discusses growing support for legalising marijuana as a measure to fight drug trafficking, Mexico's supplanting of Colombia as the locus of power for the business, price discovery mechanics and much much more:
Growing numbers of Mexican and U.S. officials say--at least privately--that the biggest step in hurting the business operations of Mexican cartels would be simply to legalize their main product: marijuana. Long the world's most popular illegal drug, marijuana accounts for more than half the revenues of Mexican cartels.
"Economically, there is no argument or solution other than legalization, at least of marijuana," said the top Mexican official matter-of-factly. The official said such a move would likely shift marijuana production entirely to places like California, where the drug can be grown more efficiently and closer to consumers. "Mexico's objective should be to make the U.S. self-sufficient in marijuana," he added with a grin.
He is not alone in his views. Earlier this year, three former Latin American presidents known for their free-market and conservative credentials--Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil--said governments should seriously consider legalizing marijuana as an effective tool against murderous drug gangs.
More here. On a related topic, the New York Times takes up the issue of money laundering on the US-Mexico border in this Christmas Day report.
Elsewhere, Reuters outlines risks to watch in Latin America in 2010 here.
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