Disarmament and International Security Committee Ga-I

DISARMAMENT AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE GA-I

STUDY GUIDE

Alp Akçasayar Zeynep Yıldızdan President Chair Deputy Chair

Vefa Lisesi Model United Nations Conference March 31st – April 3rd, 2017 Istanbul, Turkey

Agenda Item:

“Tackling the Mexican Drug War by creating long-term strategies”

INDEX

1. Introduction a. Key Terms b. Background i. Corruption in Mexico ii. USA’s Involvement 2. Economic Aspects 3. Major Cartels 4. Timeline of the Events 5. Further Readings and Links

1. INTRODUCTION

“On this International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, I call on countries and communities to continue to improve the lives of everyone blighted by drug abuse integrating security and public safety with a heightened focus on health, human rights, and sustainable development.” -Former Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki- Moon June 26, 2016

At first glance, the Mexican Drug War may appeal as just some mafia’s cat fight or government’s attempt to end the battle with cartels, but it is a deeper situation than that. The drug cartels are being used in order to provide leisure corridors to traffic the drugs. This war is not between the cartels and the executive authority, it never was. People of Mexico have suffered long enough and they are still facing with its outcomes. The peace has left the country years ago and its remaining are not sufficient any more. Drug related violations are too much to count with those who cannot be reported because of fear. Too much that citizens have lost their faith to the police and state authorities, yet they developed new methods to protect themselves. People of Mexico are tired, children are frightened. Waking up to a normal school day and facing with bodies on the ground as a memory of previous night’s gunshots. But the worst thing is that they are by themselves. No one to trust. No government that they can rely on for security, instead they will have no choice but to turn to their local cartel for all the basic security services that a government usually provides Clock is ticking, days are passing and some serious precautions must be taken.

a. KEY TERMS:

Cartel: An association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition.

Autodefensas: Groups of civilians rose up against the drug gangs.

Corruption: Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

Neoliberalism: Neoliberalism is a policy model of social studies and economics that transfers control of economic factors from public sector to private sector.

Drug Trafficking Organizations: Complex organizations with highly defined command-and- control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantities of one or more illicit drugs. Also known by the shortened acronym DTOs, the groups are responsible for large portions of the illegal drugs entering the United States each year.

KTO: Knights Templar Organization, an organized crime group based in Michoacán

b. BACKGROUND:

In the last decades, drug trafficking started to become the symbol of Mexico. As we have a quick look at the drug cartels’ existence in the first place, the reasons are so familiar: neoliberal policies in order to reduce the state’s impact on economy, submerged agriculture, impoverishment of the people to let the drug sector get strengthened. Once it monopolized the money flow a vicious circle started to end its activities. What did not kill the cartels only made them stronger and the effects reached to nowadays.

The phrase “Mexican Drug War” can in fact refer to two discrete, but related wars. The first is a civil war of sorts: a war between the separate, distinct drug cartels within Mexico venturing to gain control of drug corridors and to expand their spheres of influences and profit margins within la patria. If you are on drug cartels’ side, for instance, it is important to know which cartels you are currently aligned with and which cartels are your sworn enemy. However, it is the second drug war which is more prominent; the war between the Mexican Law Enforcement, under the administrations of Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon, who have attempted to cull the expansion of power of the cartels, as well as prevent the circuitous murder of the citizens of Mexico.

Former president Felipe Calderon on 11th of December 2006, less than two weeks into his term, launched a massive crackdown in order to diminish the drug cartels’ activities, to restore a semblance of peace and such as, by sending troops to diminish the rising violence in his home state, Michoacan. But before that official action we may say that the war kind of began with the arrest professed head of Tijuana cartel, on a fishing boat in August 16, 2006.

This attitude of that has been taken by Calderon have contributed to increase drug cartels’ behaving like “rovning bandits”. The neutralization of their main leaders triggered the followers of the cartels. Felipe Calderon’s government took an aggressive policy of arrests of criminal organization’s kingpins, which differentiated the administration from its predecessors. Over half of the drug capos that operated in Mexico in 2008 were captured. By losing their top leaders, the cartels lost control of the smaller criminal cells, and thus lost their capacity to operate their international drug trafficking routes effectively, causing them to turn against civilians to extract resources through increasingly exploitative criminal behavior. Moreover, neutralization of leaders intensifies rivalries between criminal organizations in the short and medium term.

Calderon believed that his path was to maintain the neoliberal project, to expand the country to additional international capital, and to enlarge the industrial sector to farmers who could not compete with US agriculture.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has continued the previous administration’s strategies to arrest major organized crime figures. The Peña Nieto administration succeeded in arresting Mexico’s most notorious drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán (head of the Sinaloa Cartel). In 2014, federal authorities also captured key leaders of the Knights Templar Organization, killing Nazario Moreno González, a.k.a. “El Chayo and Enrique “El Kike” Plancarte Solís. Authorities continued to make important arrests targeting the Knights Templar Organization, the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, and the Zetas in early

2015. The second aspect, a huge percentage of deaths were caused by confrontations between the cartels competing for control of l strategic locations and over shade the rest. In some respects, this problem is a result of successful outcome of Colombia’s war on drug cartels. Within the execution of infamous leader of the Medellin Cartel (Pablo Escobar Gaviria) being gunned by the police commandos and the arrest of his brother has weakened the North Port’s drug trafficking. This opportunity created an opening for Mexican organized crime groups, such as the Guadalajara.

Cartel led by Miguel “El Pardino” (the Godfather) Angel Felix Gallardo and his followers, to seize control of the lucrative North American drug trade.

Until the time he was captured by the Mexican government in 1989, Félix Gallardo remained in charge. With the Guadalajara Cartel’s ringleader being captured and the Colombians under attack, other gangs started developing their own drug operations from scratch-covering transportation, warehousing, and, eventually, the disposal of the product itself.

Barry R. McCaffrey, former director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, testified before the Senate that the “Colombians paid the Mexican trafficking organizations $1,500 to $2,000 for each kilogram of cocaine smuggled to the United States.” But during the 1990s, as a more chaotic arrangement began to take shape, the Colombian and Mexican trafficking groups established a new deal allowing the Mexicans to receive a percentage of the cocaine in each shipment as payment for their transportation services. “This ‘payment-in- product’ agreement enabled Mexican organizations to become involved in the wholesale distribution of cocaine in the United States,” McCaffrey observed. This also ended the Colombians’ monopoly and set the stage for the war that followed.

Starting in middle 1990’s drug became more powerful, more independent and more dangerous than they were before. As they strengthened, the brutality they brought up also increased. Gone was Félix Gallardo’s divide-and conquer approach, replaced by intimidation, brazen violence, and the executions of officials who had the courage to stand against them.

By the time of 2004 the war began to show its evil face. People started to see the corpses and the mass graves in the streets when the headlines started to appear in newspaper

*: Inside Mexico’s Drug War; by Tomas Kellner& Francesco Pipitone

The state of Michoacan also known as the birthplace of the drug war, which now in its eleventh year, has controversially become an international example of policy failure, as drugs continue to flux. Michoacan is a key to comprehend the drug trafficking in Mexico due to its geopolitical position arising from the port Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico's most important, and a strategic transfer point for drug trafficking. As a result of the violence linked to drugs, in recent years Michoacan became a leading platform for Mexico's modern civilian militia movement, known locally as the autodefensas. These groups rose up in arms against Michoacan's drug gangs, but are now accused of behaving in some ways like organized crime.

i. CORRUPTION in MEXICO:

Easily manipulated judicial and police institutions, also having world’s majorest consumer economy have made Mexico the hub of one of the world’s most sophisticated drug networks. Corruption and weakness in Mexico's judicial and police sectors have largely allowed the drug trade to enhance.

Police are regularly overpowered by criminals, who have become increasingly brazen in bringing the fight to the state. The police is perceived to be highly corrupt, inadequate and unreliable due to infiltration by organized crime groups and the influence of corrupt politicians. Mexican police are frequently reported to be involved in extortion, kidnappings and protecting organized crime members in exchange for bribe. A huge percentage of police officers have taken the anti-corruption levels but unfortunately whom has failed continued their job and did not face with any consequences. People of Mexico have a common idea which is police stations are the less reliable and the most likely to corrupt in the country. The credibility of Mexican police to protect companies from crime is among the lowest in the world, and the business expenses of crime and theft are high. The police are easily bought, in part because of their inadequate earnings (about $9,000-$10,000 a year), which fall below the average salary for public-sector employees, so the main problem here is not the police itself but their life conditions and insufficient income.

It is comprehended as the courts to be corrupt and subject to political venture both at state and local levels by the vast majority of Mexicans. Reportedly, criminal groups have also taken advantage of Mexico's judges' susceptibility to corruption to advance their interests. The costs of conductive business in Mexico is higher than in other regional countries, and the corrupt judicial system limits market competitiveness. Surveyed business executives believe that the judiciary is ineffective in settling disputes and challenging government regulations.

ii. USA’s INVOLMENT:

The “war on drugs” doctrine is mostly credited to President Richard Nixon, who created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1973 to declare “an all-out global war on the drug menace”. Since that time, the US has spent more than $2.5 trillion battling this indeterminate enemy through prohibition and militarization. Over the past four decades, the US model has been exported to Latin America – most particularly Colombia and Mexico. Mexico’s decade-long war on drugs would never have been possible without the huge injection of American cash and weaponry cooperation under the Merida Initiative. The funds have continued to flow despite growing evidence of serious human rights violations. Nowadays many articles are basically supporting the idea of increasing border security from the U.S into Mexico and not to intervene. Bill Weinberg discusses the U.S. contribution to the violence that is occurring in Mexico and how United States intervention could possibly ratchet up the violence in Mexico if other aspects contributing to the cartel problem are not addressed first.1* It is a fact that, weapons are being smuggled from a variety of sources on the border between the United States and Mexico. These weapons are key factors in the brutal murders that are occurring in the country. The trafficking of these guns is just as important as anything Mexico can do to reduce violence.

2. ECONOMIC ASPECTS:

In middle 1970’s the economic recession has forced the USA to increase the interest rates. That innocent precaution was deadly for Mexico’s economy, in that position the short-term loans almost doubled and reached a quantity that cannot be paid.

With the emergency loans provided by World Bank and IMF, Mexico started to pay back to the US Banks. But this little help came with its consequences. The Lenders demanding to customize the public services, government's interruptions in the social program and to open up its foreign investment even more, pushing the country to ruthlessly increasing debt and interest payments. These orders are followed by Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994). Structural adjustments encouraged privatization, the country opened foreign investment and made the agriculture sector export-oriented. With the change of constitution the process of recognizing and securing agricultural private property and the process of liquidating the right to access and use the land has started.

1980’s are remembered as the “missing ten years”, la Decada Perdida, expropriated farmers flocked to town centers. Salinas continued his policies and this process has created a new rich class. The laborers, on the contrary, had a breakdown. When public enterprises were privatized, collective agreements were finalized, and "flexible" working rules were abolished. One of the most significant factor determining rural and agricultural development policies implemented after 1982 is GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) membership. At the same time, government subsidies, which kept the prices of basic food stuffs low,

1 Thesis; Mexican Drug Cartels and International Theory: History with Solutions 7

were suddenly abolished. The provision of basic social services has similarly been cut off and fewer people have been able to provide free health care and education access.

Neoliberal policies were particularly devastating for agriculture. Price controls on basic agricultural products have been lifted. Quotas and customs duties on exports of agricultural products were also abolished. Supports given to small-scale farmers were terminated. These occurrences led to pushing the Mexican farmers out of the market.

This crisis changed the drug industry. The farmers who could not resign their lives, within the support being cut and the start of competition with US agricultural companies has made cannabis and opium trade the only way to earn income from the soil. Adoption of free trade and profound integration of the Mexican economy into the US have greatly increased border trade, making it easier for drugs to locate northbound goods.

The drug trade was formerly part of PRI's corporatist state. (PRI; Partido Revolucionario Institucional, The party that dominated the political life of Mexico from its foundation in 929 until 2000 and retained power.) For this reason, a degree regulatory trial was forbidden and unofficially taxed, while the de facto smuggling license was given (the plaza system). The abandonment of this form of corporatism by the state contributed to the independent growth and empowerment of organized crime networks.

As in the former Soviet Union and in other post-communist regimes, neoliberal policies created millionaires and gangsters at the same time. Weakening of the state and actions supporting free enterprise further strengthened the private sector. Hence the drug merchants acquired an important role in the economic circulation.

With the special request of the former US president George H.W. Bush the head of Guadalajara organization was executed. But this occurence opened the way to the free market. The outcomes of the crime sector were far more devastating than the damage to the neoliberal projections by the economy.

After all new organizations have been formed and they were called cartels.

3. MAJOR CARTELS:

Beltran Leyva - Founded by the four Beltran Leyva brothers, Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Hector. Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa cartel, now aligned with Los Zetas against the Sinaloa, Gulf and La Familia Michoacana cartels.

Gulf Cartel - Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Formerly one of the most powerful cartels.

Juarez Cartel - Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, now fighting it for control of Ciudad Juarez and the state of Chihuahua.

La Familia Michoacana - Based in the Michoacan state. Possibly defunct as of 2011.

Los Zetas Cartel - Comprised of former elite members of the Mexican military. Initially they worked as hit men for the Gulf Cartel, before becoming independent. They now battle the Gulf cartel for control of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.

Sinaloa Cartel - Considered to be the dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico. Led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Tijuana/Arellano Felix Cartel - Based in Tijuana. Most of the Arellano Felix brothers have been apprehended or killed. (edition.cnn.com)

4. TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

December 11, 2006 - Newly elected Mexican President Felipe Calderon deploys more than 6,500 Mexican soldiers to the state of Michoacán to battle drug traffickers.

2006 - In the first few weeks of the government crackdown on drug trafficking, 62 people are killed. (Mexican government, April 2010)

January 2007 - Captured drug lord Osiel Cardena Guillen, alleged former head of the Gulf cartel, is extradited to the United States.

February 2007 - More than 20,000 Mexican soldiers and federal police are spread out across Mexico as part of President Calderon's drug war.

June 25, 2007 - Mexican President Felipe Calderon fires 284 federal police commanders to weed out corruption.

2007 - In the first full year of the drug war, 2,837 people are killed. (Mexican government, April 2010)

January 2008 - Alfredo Beltran Leyva, of the Beltran Leyva Cartel, is arrested by Mexican police in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

May 1, 2008 - Roberto Velasco Bravo, Mexico's director of investigation for organized crime, is killed in Mexico City.

May 8, 2008 - Edgar Eusebio Millan Gomez, Mexico's federal police chief, and two bodyguards are killed in Mexico City.

May 9, 2008 - The commander of Mexico City's investigative police force, Esteban Roble Espinosa, is killed outside his home.

September 15, 2008 - During an Independence Day celebration in Morelia's town square, grenades are thrown into the crowd, killing eight people. The incident has been described as the first terrorist-style attack on innocent bystanders in Mexico's drug war.

November 1, 2008 - The acting head of Mexico's Federal Police, Victor Gerardo Garay, resigns under suspicion of corruption.

2008 - In 2008, 6,844 people are killed in Mexico's drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010)

November 3, 2009 - The reported head of the Los Zetas drug cartel, Braulio Arellano Dominguez, is killed in a gun battle with Mexican forces in Soledad de Doblado.

December 16, 2009 - Arturo Beltran Leyva, head of the Beltran Leyva cartel, is killed in a shootout with Mexican forces in Cuernavaca.

2009 - The Mexican government reports 9,635 deaths in 2009 in the drug war. (Mexican government, April 2010)

January 2010 - Carlos Beltran Leyva is arrested by Mexican authorities in Sinaloa. He is the third Beltran Leyva cartel brother to be captured or killed in two years.

February 25, 2010 - Osiel Cardenas Guillen, head of the Gulf Cartel until his capture in 2003, is sentenced in Texas to 25 years in prison. He also is forced to turn over $50 million to the United States.

May 26, 2010 - Pedro Roberto Velazquez Amador, allegedly the leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel in San Pedro, is killed in a shootout with federal forces in northern Mexico.

June 11, 2010 - Edgar Valdez Villarreal, "La Barbie," an American citizen, is charged with trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States between 2004 and 2006. He remains a fugitive with a $2 million reward for information leading to his capture.

June 25, 2010 - A leader in the Sinaloa cartel, Manuel Garibay Espinoza, is arrested in Mexicali, by Mexican police.

July 29, 2010 - Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal, one of the leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, is killed in a military raid in Guadalajara's suburbs.

August 25, 2010 - The bodies of 72 migrants from South and Central America are discovered on a ranch in Tamaulipas state. It is believed the 58 men and 14 women were kidnapped by the Los Zetas cartel and killed for refusing to traffic drugs.

August 30, 2010 - Mexican authorities announce that they have captured Edgar Valdez Villarreal, "La Barbie," alleged head of the Beltran Leyva cartel.

September 10, 2010 - Mexican President Felipe Calderon tells CNN en Español, "We live next to the world's largest drug consumer, and all the world wants to sell them drugs through our door and our window. And we live next to the world's largest arms seller, which is supplying the criminals."

September 12, 2010 - A top leader in the Beltran Leyva cartel, Sergio Villarreal, is arrested in the city of Puebla.

November 5, 2010 - Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka Tony Tormenta, allegedly the head of the Gulf cartel, is killed in a shootout with Mexican forces in Matamoros.

January 2011 - The Mexican government releases a death toll of 34,612 citizens killed during the four-year drug war.

January 17, 2011 - Flavio Mendez Santiago, one of the original founders of Los Zetas, is captured near Oaxaca.

February 15, 2011 - US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila, Jr. are run off the road in Mexico and attacked by a group of armed men who open fire. Zapata dies and Avila survives a gunshot wound to his leg. The Los Zetas drug cartel is suspected.

February 23, 2011 - Mexican soldiers arrest six members of the Los Zetas drug cartel, including Julian Zapata Espinoza, who is allegedly responsible for the death of US ICE Agent Jaime Zapata.

March 5, 2011 - Alleged Los Zetas drug cartel member, Mario Jimenez Perez, is arrested in connection with Jamie Zapata's murder.

March 7, 2011 - Alleged Los Zetas drug cartel leader, Marcos Carmona Hernandez, is arrested.

April 2011 - Several mass graves holding 177 bodies are discovered in Tamaulipas, the same area where the bodies of 72 migrants were discovered in 2010.

April 16, 2011 - Mexican authorities announce the arrest of Martin Omar Estrada Luna -- nicknamed "El Kilo," a presumed leader of the Los Zetas drug cartel. Estrada Luna has been identified by authorities as one of three prime suspects behind the mass graves discovered earlier in April 2011.

April 29, 2011 - Former drug cartel leader Benjamin Arellano Felix is extradited to the United States.

May 8, 2011 - Twelve suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel and a member of Mexico's navy are killed in a shootout on a Falcon Lake island. The suspected drug traffickers were storing marijuana on the island to be transported by boat to the US, authorities said in a statement.

May 29, 2011 - In Hidalgo, 10 police officers, including a police chief, are arrested on charges of protecting the Los Zetas drug cartel.

June 14, 2011 - A congressional report shows that more than 70% of firearms seized by Mexican authorities, and submitted to the ATF for tracing, are shown to have originated in the United States. The report covers 29,284 firearms submitted in 2009 and 2010.

June 21, 2011 - Mexican federal police capture Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as "The Monkey," the alleged head of La Familia Michoacana cartel in Augascalientes.

July 3, 2011 - Mexican authorities arrest Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, known as "El Mamito," a reported founding member of the Los Zetas Cartel and allegedly connected to ICE Agent Jaime Zapata's death.

July 11, 2011 - The US government announces a plan to require gun dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report the sales of semiautomatic rifles under certain

conditions in an effort to stem the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels.

July 27, 2011 - Edgar Jimenez Lugo, known as "El Ponchis" or "The Cloak," a 14-year-old American citizen with suspected drug cartel ties, is found guilty of beheading at least four people. He is sentenced to three years, the maximum for a juvenile, in a Mexican correctional facility.

July 30, 2011 - Mexican authorities announce they have Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, or "El Diego," in custody. He is the purported leader of La Linea, the suspected armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel, and considered responsible for the death of US Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez and her husband Arthur Redelfs.

August 1, 2011 - Mexican federal police arrest Moises Montero Alvarez, known as "The Korean," a suspected leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA) and allegedly connected with the murders of 20 Mexican tourists in 2010.

August 25, 2011 - At least 52 people are killed in an attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico. Witnesses told investigators that up to six people entered the Casino Royale and demanded money from the manager, according to Adrian de la Garza, the state attorney general for Nuevo Leon. When the manager refused to pay, the building was set on fire.

August 30, 2011 - Mexican officials allege that the five suspects arrested in connection with the Mexico casino fire are members of the Los Zetas drug cartel and had targeted the owners of the casino for not complying with extortion demands. The suspects are identified as Luis Carlos Carrazco Espinosa; Javier Alonso Martinez Morales, alias "el Javo;" Jonathan Jahir Reyna Gutierrez; Juan Angel Leal Flores, and Julio Tadeo Berrones, alias "El Julio Rayas."

September 1, 2011 - A Nuevo Leon state police officer, Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla, is arrested in connection with the casino fire in Monterrey.

September 13, 2011 - A murdered man and woman are found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. Near their mutilated bodies is a sign saying they were killed for denouncing drug cartel activities on a social media site. The sign also threatens to kill others who post "funny things on the internet."

September 20, 2011 - At least 35 bodies are dumped on a roadway in the coastal state of Veracruz.

September 23, 2011 - Mexican authorities find another 11 bodies in locations throughout Veracruz.

September 27, 2011 - Five severed heads are found in a sack near an elementary school in Acapulco.

October 4, 2011 - The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that almost 43,000 people have died in Mexico's drug war since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took

office in December 2006.

October 7, 2011 - The Mexican navy announces that it has arrested eight people suspected of involvement in the deaths of 67 people in Veracruz in recent weeks.

October 12, 2011 - A suspected top Los Zetas drug cartel leader, Carlos Oliva Castillo, alias "La rana," or "The Frog," is arrested for allegedly ordering the attack on the Monterrey casino.

November 24, 2011 - Mexican authorities find 26 bodies inside three abandoned vehicles in Guadalajara, Mexico, one day after authorities in Sinaloa state found 16 bodies inside two trucks that had been set ablaze.

January 4, 2012 - Benjamin Arellano Felix, a former leader of Mexico's Tijuana drug cartel, pleads guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money. The plea deal calls for the forfeiture of $100 million to the United States and a maximum of 25 years in prison.

January 11, 2012 - The office of Mexico's Attorney General releases a statement saying that nearly 13,000 people were killed in drug violence between January and September 2011.

May 13, 2012 - Mexican authorities find at least 49 decapitated and dismembered bodies along a highway in Nuevo Leon state, between the cities of Monterrey and Reynosa.

July 7, 2012 - In an interview with CNN, Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto calls for a new debate on the drug war and says the United States must play a prominent role.

August 31, 2012 - Eduardo Arellano-Felix, an alleged senior member of a Tijuana-based drug cartel, is extradited from Mexico to the United States. Arellano-Felix was arrested on October 25, 2008, after a gun battle with Mexican forces.

September 3, 2012 - In his final state of the nation address, Mexican President Felipe Calderon defends his government's approach to combating crime and drugs and criticizes the United States for providing criminals with almost "unlimited access" to weapons.

September 4, 2012 - Mexican authorities announce the capture of Mario Cardenas Guillen, also known as "M1" and "The Fat One," a suspected leader of the Gulf cartel.

September 27, 2012 - Mexican marines capture and arrest a man claiming to be Ivan Velazquez Caballero, alias "El Taliban." Velazquez Caballero is one of the top leaders of Los Zetas.

October 9, 2012 - Mexican authorities confirm that Mexican marines killed Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, leader of the Zetas cartel, in a shootout on October 7. Lazcano's body was stolen from a funeral home on October 8, but authorities had already taken fingerprints and photographs to confirm his identity.

July 15, 2013 - Los Zetas cartel leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, known as Z-40, is detained by Mexican authorities in an operation in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, state

media reports.

August 20, 2013 - Mario Armando Ramirez, ranking member of the Gulf cartel and also known as "X-20," is captured in Reynosa, a city in Tamaulipas state.

August 20, 2013 - Eduardo Arellano Felix is sentenced to 15 years in US federal prison for his role as CFO in the drug cartel organization.

February 22, 2014 - A US official tells CNN that Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the boss of one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking operations, has been arrested in Mexico.

March 9, 2014 - Cartel leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, also known as "El Chayo," "El Doctor" and "El Mas Loco," The Craziest One," is fatally shot during an arrest attempt, according to Mexican authorities. He was one of the leaders and main founders of La Familia Michoacana cartel. This is the second time Mexican officials have claimed Moreno is dead. They also announced his death in 2010.

September 26, 2014 - Gunmen open fire at buses carrying students and soccer players in southern Mexico. Authorities say three students are among six people killed in the violence, and 43 students remain missing.

October 1, 2014 - Mexican police capture Hector Beltran Leyva, head of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

October 9, 2014 - Authorities announce that Mexican federal police have captured alleged Juarez Cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.

January 27, 2015 - Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam says there is "legal certainty" that the 43 college students who went missing four months ago in the Mexican state of Guerrero were murdered. Mexican authorities believe it was a case of mistaken identity. Former Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca has been charged in the case and is awaiting trial as the accused mastermind of the abduction and execution.

March 4, 2015 - Zetas drug cartel leader Omar Trevino Morales is apprehended by Mexican authorities in a suburb of Monterrey. Five others are arrested in a simultaneous operation.

July 11, 2015 - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escapes through a hole in his cell block that led to a lighted and ventilated tunnel nearly a mile long. Guzman previously escaped from prison in 2001 in a laundry cart and eluded authorities for more than a dozen years until his capture in 2014, when he was arrested in a hotel in the Pacific beach town of Mazatlan, in his home state of Sinaloa.

September 6, 2015 - A group of international experts say there's no evidence to support the Mexican government's claim that the 43 students who went missing last year were burned at a landfill. Attorney General Arely Gomez Gonzalez says that Mexico will launch a new investigation.

January 8, 2016 - Mexican security forces arrest Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Sinaloa. While on the run, Guzman met with actor Sean Penn in October for an interview published in Rolling Stone.

January 29, 2016 - A cross-border raid by US and Mexican law enforcement officials results in the arrest of 24 Sinaloa cartel members. The sting also netted weapons and hundreds of pounds of narcotics.

February 23, 2016 - Alfredo Beltran Leyva, behind the Beltran Leyva cartel, pleads guilty to participating in an international narcotics trafficking conspiracy before US District Judge Richard Leon. Leyva, who was indicted in August 2012 for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States, was extradited from Mexico in November 2014.

May 9, 2016 - A judge in Mexico rules that "El Chapo" can be extradited to the United States, according to a news release from the Mexican Federal Court. The decision is in response to a US Department of Justice extradition request. January 25, 2017 - Trump orders construction of border wall, boosts deportation force.

NOTES FROM CHAIRPERSON:

Bear in mind that there are some essential points which should be covered in a resolution. The resolution you propose should be applicable and practical and moreover it should be related to the committee itself. Stick to the agenda. You can search for relative documents but do not forget to come up with your own solutions. You should also avoid phrases that could be misunderstood; be detailed and clear. Your resolution has to be able to answer the “WH” questions, which are:

1. What 2. Why 3. Where 4. When 5. Who 6. How

Points That A Resolution Should Cover: ● What are the immidiate precautions to stop the ongoing conflict? ● Should the priority given to the war between the Cartels’ or the Mexico’s Officials and the Cartels? ● What kind of an economic plan shall be followed? ● What is the role of United Nations? How could it be benefited? ● How to measure the capacity of the existing organizations? ● What are the essential cases of the issue?

Important Reminder: While preparing the document, you should avoid to interfere the internal issues and must stay objective.

5. FURTHER READINGS:

1. https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/cddrl_robles_calderon_and_magaloni_201 5_economic_consecuences_drug_trafficking_violence_mexico.pdf 2. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/media/publications/Drug%20Violence%20in%20Mexic o,%20Justice%20in%20Mexico%20Project%20Report,%202015.pdf 3. http://csuchico- dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.4/522/12%203%202012%20James%20Page. pdf?sequence=1 4. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/dec/08/mexico-war-on-drugs-cost- achievements-us-billions 5. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/21802/Ronald%20Reagan's%20 War%20on%20Drugs- A%20Policy%20Failure%20But%20a%20Political%20Success.pdf?sequence=1 6. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2013.00206.x/full 7. http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/vrios/files/rios_phddissertation.pdf 8. https://news.vice.com/article/where-mexicos-drug-war-was-born-a-timeline-of-the- security-crisis-in-michoacan 9. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/mexico-drug-wars/

Agenda Item:

“Questioning the effect of Private Military Companies in international conflicts”

INDEX

1. Key Terms

2. Introduction

a. What is a Private Military Company?

b. Historical Background of Private Military Companies

c. Ongoing Military Conflicts

i. Syrian Civil War

ii. Iraqi Civil War

iii. Yemeni Civil War

3. Role of Private Military Companies in Modern Warfare

4. Outcomes of Using Private Military Companies

5. Points That a Resolution Should Cover

1. INTRODUCTION a) What is a Private Military Company?

Private military company is a private company that provides required arms of any type and security services. Their field of business go as “private military industry” and are recognized by the United Nations as mercenaries under the “United Nations Mercenary Convention” which is ratified by 35 states. Nonetheless some of the countries with large military power (United States, China, United Kingdom, etc.) have not ratified the convention. In the first article of the convention it defines “mercenary” as: a. Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict; b. Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party; c. Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict; d. Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and e. Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.2

However United States denies the classification of United Nations that understands private military companies as mercenaries. Private military companies are recently known to operate on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. They are many discussions on whether there should be stricter regulations due to many allegations on them violating the human right b) Historical Background of Private Military Companies

The first private military company is believed to be Watchguard International founded by David Stirling in 1967. The company’s goal was to recruit former British SAS employees and train them overseas. Company’s first assignment was to report the state of United Kingdom forces in Yemen after the ceasefire. Following that they opened up to Africa and showed an exponential growth. After making contacts in Africa they've started to sell British weaponry and sent military personnel. Their contacts were mainly located in the Arabian Peninsula and it is said that they've been assigned to overthrow the Qaddafi Government in 1971, however they failed to complete the task. The significant rise of the private military industry starts shortly after the cold war. After that these companies started expand the reach of their services and added advisory services that trained local services without taking an actual role in the war zones. Since then it has been an exponentially growing industry which had operations over every single continent in the world except Antarctica.

2International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, 4 December 1989. https://ihl- databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=8E7340DFAA839EEDC 12563CD0051F3EB 20

c) Ongoing Military Conflicts

Currently there are nearly 14 acknowledgeable ongoing military conflicts around the globe that cause over 1000 casualties per year. Most significant one is being Syrian Civil War with approximately 50.000 casualties in 2016. This casualty count is followed by 25.000 in the Iraqi Civil War last year and the tension in the Afghani region with 23.000 casualties.

i. Syrian Civil War

Syrian Civil War is a conflict between Syrian State, Syrian Oppositions, Islamic State and the Kurdish folk in the area. After the Arab Spring protests were held in order the overthrow the Bashar Al- Assad government. These protests were meant to be suppressed by the Syrian Government with extreme and violent measures. Following that some Syrian officers formed the Free Syrian Army. FSA(Free Syrian Army)’s main goal was to bring down the government as soon as possible. With intense conflict between FSA and the Syrian Government the local terrorist forces joined the war and with the presence of ISIS in the region, the support from other terrorist organizations helped the Islamic State to seize many towns from every other belligerents of the civil war. The ISIS threat became so great, an intervention from the Western States and Russia was required since ISIS was not only a threat in the region, but with their violent attacks to the Western Civilization, they were a threat to the western allies as well. So a coalition was built under the United States supervision, in order to support the necessary forces in the area to eliminate Islamic State. The coalition mainly focuses on airstrikes and training the local forces.

ii. Iraqi Civil War Iraqi Civil War is the conflict between Iraqi Government and ISIS After years of instability in the Iraqi Region, in 2014; ISIS took control over a majority of the Anbar Provence. After that they moved on to take over Mosul, one of the biggest cities in Iraq. Their main objective was to seize the capital, Baghdad, and when they took Mosul they had a large

augmentation in size and significantly increased their supporter count. This was mainly because of the support of the shia government towards ISIS thus gaining a huge amount of Sunni support. The Kurdish however, even though are also Sunnis, refused to join the claim of ISIS therefore resulting in conflicts between the Kurdish and Islamic State. The tension between the Iraqi and Islamic State climbed as ISIS executed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers whom previously surrendered and published the images of mass execution through social media. After a while due to the situation in Syria, Syrian Air Force bombed the hotspots of ISIS in Iraq and the Iraqi government expressed their gratitude towards this airstrike. Following that United States took some serious measures to help train the rebels and Peshmerga to fight against ISIS.

iii. Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War is the conflict between the Houthi, whom are the supporters of the former president of Yemen, and forces of the currently elected government. Presence of Al-Qaeda in the region, whom are being supported by Islamic State, are naturally making them a contender of Yemeni soil and a side in this war. It all began with the debates over the course of election system in the then-upcoming presidential election. After disagreeing upon the possible solutions that were brought up by Yemeni government, Houthi seized the region of Sana’a and caused the President Mansur Hadi to leave Sana’a and relocate in Aden. The sides came across for the first time on 19 of march 2015 which resulted in decisive victory for Mansur Hadi. Houthi replied in a similar manner by overtaking the city of Taiz on 22 of march. The conflict between the parties is yet to be solved but during this period of war, regional terrorist forces conducted attacks on both the Houthi and Hadi sides.

2. ROLE of PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANIES in MODERN WARFARE

As stated above, private military companies have had a part in war zones such as but not limited to;

1. Iraq 2. Afghanistan 3. Pakistan

However they had been accused of certain human rights violations in the places listed. These controversies do not exactly make a strong case for utilization of private military companies in international conflicts.

Afghanistan

Between the years 2006 and 2010 there were some reports on civilian killings by the located private military companies in the region. Mostly because they've found some people threatening but most of these claims are extremely vague therefore open to discussion whether stricter regulations be passed concerning these private military companies.

For example in 2009 one afghan civilian were killed and three were left injured by a private military company that was working for the United States army. The reason given by the company was that they were driving close to some of the employees of the company and they felt threatened. Later report showed that United States made it clear that employees of the aforementioned company would not carry any types of firearms.

This is not the only example on this issue however it is enough to question the authority of private military companies.

4. OUTCOMES of USING PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANIES

In March 2005 DCAF, Democratic Control of Armed Forces, released a detailed report about privatizing security that focused on the power of the private military companies and questioned them by putting down the pros and the cons of using private military companies.

Some of the pros are followed as:

• Contracting out to private companies, agencies, or other intermediate types of administration has a place in efficient government. Privatization and outsourcing can reduce public spending and increase efficiency.3

• Using contractors saves money and frees up the military to concentrate on its core missions. While contractors’ pay may seem high, it is cost-effective because they are paid only when needed. When comparing costs, the significant benefits received by armed forces personnel have to be taken into account.4

• Private Military Companies could improve the quality of UN missions. The UN is slow to deploy peacekeeping troops and the troops are often poorly trained and under- equipped soldiers from developing countries. Not only are these types of operations less controversial when carried out by private companies, they are less costly. PMC operations in Sierra Leone cost about 4 percent of the costs of a subsequent UN peacekeeping operation.5

3 US Defense Science Board, Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Outsourcing and Privatization; August 1996. 4 Congressional Budget Office, “Military Compensation: Balancing Cash and Noncash Benefits”, Washington D.C., 16 January 2004. 5 S. Fidler and T. Catan, “Private companies on the frontline”, Financial Times, 11 August 2003 23

Arguments that are against go as:

• If a national government has any role at all in guaranteeing the country’s security, it must recruit and maintain the country’s armed forces. The activities contractors are performing are too important to entrust to private companies, which are motivated by profit above all else. 6

• A nation’s armed forces conduct their duties for reasons of allegiance and selfless service to their nation, as opposed to a PMC structured solely for commercial profit and not bound by the codes, rules, and regulations that make a nation’s armed forces unique and accountable. Mercenary forces have long been stigmatized as profiteering opportunists devoid of any allegiance to the cause for which they fight. Thus, their use, whether for national or international security, is a step too far since their main obligation is to their employer, not to their country.

• The evidence does not prove that the use of PMCs saves money. No systematic study of the cost-effectiveness of military privatization and outsourcing exists because there has not been adequate oversight or auditing of military contracts.7

5. POINTS THAT A RESOLUTION SHOULD COVER

In your resolution, you should be looking into ways to overcome the problems that private military companies had caused or might cause in the future. The cons of utilization of PMCs listed above can be a good place to start looking for these problems. Also, some ideas to apply stricter regulations and restrictions on their current capabilities can help you achieve better solutions to the aforementioned problems. You should keep in mind that using PMCs can also be extremely advantageous especially in United Nation’s behalf as stated above. You should find a middle way to minimize the disadvantages and make the utilization of PMCs more beneficial and reliable.

6 H. H. Shelton, as cited in E. B. Smith, “The New Condottieri and U.S. Policy: The Privatization of Conflict and its Implications” 7 S. Gates and A. Robert, “Comparing the Cost of DoD Military and Civil Service Personnel”; RAND Report, MR- 980-OSD, 1998. 24