This past summer, I thoroughly enjoyed my study abroad experience to Merida, Mexico, the capital of the state of Yucatan.
It is a tranquil place, with lots of markets for things like fish, fresh produce, hammocks and more. Study abroad is a unique opportunity to learn more about a culture from the perspective of its people. What is disconcerting is what I discovered about the role of Americans in causing violence in the country that was such a gracious host to me.
I was sitting in the living room of my host family and practicing my Spanish with my host mom. We conversed about simple things, until I switched the subject to crime in the region. Once I asked her about that, she became quite serious.
She told me that a year before I got there, about a block or so away from her house, the police found the head of a man in the middle of the street, and his decapitated body was left in the neighborhood park. I probed further, and she told me of another instance where a woman with an infant was gunned down on one of the main streets in a middle class neighborhood. Both killings were "porque las drogas y los narcos."
I did not really put all of these stories together until I read about the war that is still going on as we speak between the Mexican government and the Mexican drug cartels. The main market for the drug lords is, guess where, the United States. The drug lords have been stepping up their brazen attacks, most of which were localized in the northern part of Mexico, but have since been spreading all over the country.
The billions of dollars in revenue drugs generate allow the cartels to buy off many of the very officials that are supposed to stop them. The few people that try to stand in their way often end up in body bags.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently indicted the American population when she said that our demand fuels the cartels to supply. The primary drug the cartels transport across the border is marijuana, which is a favorite for many college students. So the next time any of you use marijuana, think about the source. Putting aside your health, consider that something as simple as getting college students something besides cigarettes to smoke has caused Mexico to be on the verge of failed state status.
Every time a college student takes a puff, he or she is responsible for the blood spilled to get it there.
Travis Hornsby is a political science and economics freshman.
