American drones have been flying the skies over Mexico since 2009 to collect intelligence on drug syndicates. The flights took place with the consent of the Calderón administration, but neither the US nor Mexican governments made it public.
As the story broke earlier last week Mexicans of many stripes—from lawmakers to farmers—started to howl that their country’s sovereignty was being violated. In response, the Mexican National Security Council disclosed on Wednesday: 1) each flight was specifically requested by the Mexican government 2) the flights mainly took place along the US-Mexican border 3) all the intelligence gathered went to the Mexican government. Add to that, on Thursday Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa on stated that Mexico’s sovereignty was not violated by the drone flights because they were “controlled” by Mexico and were unarmed.
Criticism of the drone flights in Mexico focuses on Mexico’s territorial integrity rather than the government’s control of its territory. How sacrosanct can Mexico’s sovereignty be when drug syndicates control huge swaths of the country? Now at least US hardware has a chance at remedying the vicious cycle sewn by US demand for drugs and trafficked US arms. While Mexico’s sovereignty is not being neatly preserved, to the extent that drone flights can help restore the Mexican government’s control over areas currently under drug rule, its sovereignty will be enhanced.
