70 people have already been executed by the US army in the Caribbean Sea on charges that their boats were transporting drugs. To date, the identity of the bodies is not known, nor has any evidence been provided other than the suspicion that those boats were what they seemed. Control of drug trafficking is one of the great shortcomings of the world system. Many developed countries host a criminal world that endangers our coexistence. All drug users, like those in prostitution, know that the money they spend on both ends up in the hands of the criminal economy, yet they do not feel concerned about the problem. The United States has taken an action of dubious legality in international waters that appears to have more to do with intimidating local governments than prosecuting drug trafficking. In Spain we know the issue well and so far no one has thought of the Guardia Civil executing those who pilot the numerous boats that cross the Strait. Perhaps everything will come in this rush to strip us of rights and guarantees and embrace the dynamics of fear and violence of the Wild West.
Everyone knows that the drug mafia employs extorted people to transport substances. It is common for people addicted to drugs, in debt or in desperate need of money to use at airports and borders. They are called mules and they are cannon fodder. When they give up a supply, sometimes hidden in their own body, the mafia network delivers one or two of them to pass it on to a third party with impunity. Nobody tells us that among the 70 deaths on the drug boats there might not be some of those forced by necessity to take the side of evil. We’re not even entirely sure what Trump administration spokespeople are saying; to date they have not provided any reliable evidence. However, we remain absolutely petrified in the face of such a violation of people’s rights. I suppose these executions add points to Trump on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize. If he has managed to continue running by persecuting and humiliating hundreds of immigrants who survive in his country and threatening to go back three decades to revive nuclear tests, the scope of our judgment of him will only widen.
At this point we already know that Duterte in the Philippines and Bukele in El Salvador have become very popular electorally for applying an iron fist indiscriminately and without judicial oversight. They did this in countries where security was a pressing issue, but Trump imitates them in a developed democracy, which indicates a clear violation of constitutional values. The aesthetics of sheriff Unforgiven is back in fashion and for some it would be appropriate to review Clint Eastwood’s great film, Without forgiveness, in which Gene Hackman played that strong man who wore the star on his shirt as a symbol of impunity. Drug traffickers are dangerous criminals, but applying summary executions to them only serves to strengthen the power of the big bosses. I fear that if they were thoroughly persecuted, President Trump would not have to send his Navy so far from home, it would be enough to search the luxury homes and those glittering hotels that he knows, frequents and promotes so well.
