Last Updated on October 3, 2013
As Dawn Paley reports, the Rule of U.S. Law in Mexico is changing Mexican jurisprudence from an inquisitive to an accusative criminal process. Designed to mesh with the U.S.-sponsored drug war, the legal forms imposed by USAID on Mexico have little to do with justice and everything to do with control. Funded by USAID, the World Bank, the United Nations and the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S.-backed programs are part of the U.S. foreign aid package launched in 2008 to militarize the drug war. As noted in Paley’s article, “Rule of Law programs are a centerpiece of the U.S. Army’s counterinsurgency manual.”
The militarization of the drug war, as reported by Lisa Sullivan, has been costly. Last year alone, the U.S. spent $18 billion on aircraft, helicopters, surveillance, walls and guards. Thousands of Mexicans have died as a result.
Many Mexicans are now in private US prisons for crossing the border without inspection. While this is an unavoidable consequence of NAFTA — which destroyed the livelihood of small farmers in Mexico to benefit US agro business — some Mexican Special Forces trained by the U.S. Army are now deserting to become hired assassins for the drug cartels, as well as human smugglers. Ironically, this is what reform looks like when it is “Made in the USA.”
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
