Tipsheet

Mexico the New Colombia?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now comparing Mexico to Columbia, and I completely agree with her following statement printed in the Los Angeles Times:

Clinton compared the conflict in Mexico to Colombia's recent struggle against a drug-financed leftist insurgency that, at its peak, controlled up to 40% of that country. She said the United States, Mexico and Central American countries need to cooperate on an "equivalent" of Plan Colombia — the multibillion-dollar military and aid program that helped turn back Colombia's insurgents.

"We face an increasing threat from a well-organized network, drug-trafficking threat that is, in some cases, morphing into, or making common cause with, what we would consider an insurgency," Clinton said in response to a question after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

The only thing I would add is a sprinkle of Hamas tactics being used in Mexico as well.