Cuba USA

State Violence in Mexico and United States: Product of Neoliberalism and Militarization

by David Brooks

source La Jornanda

Scholars, artists and activists held a forum at New York University to analyze the links between Mexico and the United States in the context of the violent events in Guerrero and demonstrations of protest against violence and impunity that have emerged in both countries.

After performing a silent procession through Washington Square Park with images of the 43 disappeared normal school [teachers college] students, the forum began in an NYU auditorium.

Diana Taylor, director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University, opened the forum standing in front of 43 chairs placed on the stage, each with the picture of a disappeared student:

"We are here not only to share the anger and sadness, but also, collectively, to seek what can be done on both sides of the border in the face of what is an intertwined reality."Greg Grandin, acclaimed historian and New York University professor, placed what is happening in a hemispheric context where state violence is partially explained by the promotion of neoliberal policies and militarism, "expressed through free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] and the so-called war on drugs."Grandin pointed out that it was President Bill Clinton who pushed this combination of policies, from the trade agreements to the militarization of the border, such as Plan Colombia, and that the consequences of these policies are seen today in both Mexico and the United States and elsewhere in the hemisphere.

Other participants emphasized that the so-called "war on drugs", driven by the United States through the Merida Initiative has fostered, firstly, unprecedented levels of violence in Mexico, while the drug traffickers and international banks profit from the illicit drug trade; secondly, the security agencies of both governments and companies that run private prisons in the United States benefit from the funds allocated for this "war". The most vulnerable on both sides of the border are the ones who suffer the consequences.

Gerardo Renique, professor at the City University of New York, presented a brief history of what he called Mexico's "structural violence", and its expression in the poorest states, like Guerrero. He asserted that this violence "was industrialized" in 2006 with the declaration of the 'war against drugs' [by President Felipe Calderón, 2006-2012], and it revived the practices of 'disappearances' from the time of the 'dirty war' of the 1970s.

Migration, disappearances as an instrument of terror, protest against violence and impunity sparked by the cases of Ayotzinapa and Ferguson make clear the "crisis of legitimacy" confronting institutions in both Mexico and the United States.

The relationship between U.S. policies and their consequences in Mexico and Latin America were among the topics discussed at the forum, with the intent to establish a context for the new movements, which assert that "this is just beginning."

The issue of the 43 disappeared students continues to generate new exchanges on social networks, in academic forums, in community spaces, and in some communications media. Some analysts continue to explore the commonalities between the protest movements in Mexico and the United States, triggered by acts of violence by the authorities.

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