The Gulf Cartel vs Mexico's Army

Have you ever known what it was like to live in a community of even country where it is dangerous to walk out onto your front lawn. Well in Mexico along the border of the United States, this is what it is like. Drug cartels are illicit groups of people that pretty much traffic narcotic drugs to any areas that are accessible. The Gulf Cartel, one of the world's biggest and deadliest cartels, is located in Mexico but not limited to Mexico. They distribute narcotic drugs all throughout the whole world.

Mexican Army Tank and Poster of Gulf Cartel on Bridge in Distance

Currently, the Gulf Cartel has been posting fliers about the people that should join their ranks, especially current soldiers and/or ex soldiers. The posters and fliers say things along the lines of "join our ranks, good salary, good food, etc". Current military officers say that this is a demoralizing tactic. They say that this is a way to confuse the authorities and desertion is becoming an issue within the army. The posters also tell federal agents that they should defect, or help something become perfect, in an attempt to use them as drug informants. The authorities say that these tactics are in sense making these skirmishes a real war.

Los Zetas Weaponry

The Zetas, the "gun squad" of the Gulf Cartel, are making a stand with posters as well. They offer the same message as the Gulf Cartel does: good pay, good salary, and ex-soldiers or soldiers wanted. However, through the years, the Zetas hav become more independent group from the Gulf Cartel, and recent war between them might suggest a permanent break.

Roberto Rivero Arana

Recently, the Mexican Army captured Roberto Rivero Arana, one of Zeta's leaders in five states: Tabasco, Veracruz, Campeche, Chiapas, and Quintano Rio. He was also arrested with Daniel Arturo Perez Rosas, a director of public security in Carmen City. He was accused of taking bribes from the Zetas on protecting Roberto Rivero. Though this capture may be a victory, it is only of small stature. The Zetas and the Gulf Cartels take up much of Mexico and branch off around the world according to their costumers.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon

The Mexican government, headed by President Felipe Calderon, has been trying to crush the Gulf Cartel since December of 2006. So far...they have been unsuccessful. The Gulf Cartel's leader Osiel Cardenas was extradited to the United States. The president has also sent the army into the cartel's hot spots as well. For example, he sent them to the center of hot spots, Tamaulipas, a state on the Gulf of Mexico.

Osiel Cardenas, the Gulf Cartel's Leader

From the information above, I am sure that you can abstract from this that taking down the Gulf Cartel is way out of Mexico's sight. This is an international issue due to its severity. The United States has become involved too. The Gulf Cartel has tried to and succeeded in infiltrating the United States mainly through cities like Miami and Houston. When the police and FBI began showing up in Miami, the GC began to move to Houston. As one official put it "if the drugs are being smoked here in the United States, the Gulf Cartel either touched it, sold it, or got a cut of it". The international community, including Europe, need to assist in this issue. The Gulf Cartel's are faintly backed by the elite group of Zetas and soon these gangs will need to expand even further than they have already. The international interaction needs to be of strong military planning and strategies that will effectively eliminate small cartels at first. Then, we need to go after its center. Mexico cannot complete this feat on its own. Only with the help of it's fellow countries will it ever have that dream of being safe for the next generations to come. For now, they can only dream and act with what is given to them.

I've learned leaders in many nations of the world face complex problems that they feel cannot be solved without international action or cooperation

In class, I have learned that the issues in our world are larger and in greater number than I would have guessed. First off, as mentioned in the first post concerning global issues, I discussed the LRA and its "brutal brilliance". I also discussed how it needs to be dealt with because of its tremendous severity. The international support and cooperation is vital in solving this problem because the more help a country can receive the better off they will be.
In Argentina right now, drug trafficking is a major issue that the international community can help with as well. Argentina actually acts a middle man for countries like the UK, Mexico, and the US. Argentina has also seen sex exploitation as well. Many families are becoming devastated with these crude activities. The international reaction should be a sit-down well organized meeting with top officials to discuss maybe pledging money to train special drug officers to track down the top drug and human traffickers.

Drugs through Argentina

Human trafficking

"I understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed through analysis of primary sources of many kinds."

A primary source is a document, speech, or other sort of evidence matter created or otherwise produced during the time it was under study. It offers historians a view of the past through that artifact. By this I mean that these sources were made during the period of which they illustrate or explain and help a historian understand what the topic the source portrays.

Propaganda of New Imperialism

This explains the Chinese imperialism in which Russia, England, France, Germany, Russia and Japan divided up China. This helps historians understand how China was part of the New Imperialism. This came from a website that seems geared toward giving people information about all of history.

Scramble for Africa

This a picture of the New Imperialism moving to Africa. It helps us gain an understanding of the past and impacted us by showing that the New Imperialism expanded throughout the whole world. Africa was wanted by many countries and this country helps explain that.This picture came from a website that seems credible because it is an education site that have links to the Oswega School District meaning that it's probably an educational site.

Jewish prisoners evading British imperialists

This photograph shows Jewish prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp that evaded the British imperialists. This helps us understand life in the New Imperialism because European countries were known for their dominance and this is a prime example of it. This photograph came from a website that is involved in semitism and are also a .org or organization.

The maxim gun

This picture shows the first maxim gun. This is a photograph taken of that period. The maxim gun was pretty much a machine of today but this one was operated by two people. This can help historians what the maxim gun looked like and how the person shooting it was positioned. The website that I obtained this picture from was .org meaning that it is an organization. Also I researched so more and found out that this website is also a periodical.

"I have become more knowledgeable about the World."

Between Uganda, Central African Republic, and the southern region of Sudan right now, there is a rebel army that goes by the name the "Lord's Revolutionary Army". The leader of this army goes by the name Joseph Kony. To keep the army supplied with soldiers, the current soldiers go into villages in the areas listed above and kidnap the children. The children are mainly at a young age so that the current LRA members can brainwash these innocent children more easily. The children will only be taught to capture and kill and nothing else. Anything other than that will result in death of the child. As a result of this brutal brilliance, the LRA has succeeded in forming a strong army that has caused much destruction in Uganda, Central African Republic, and Sudan. A group of young college students took a trip to Africa to take footage of these children and how they lived. They made a movie called the Invisible Children. What is happening right now is a global issue. The international community needs to have a council and come up with a solution of ridding the world of these wicked wastrels. The Ugandan government is using ex-rebels right now to hunt Kony, but other countries should be involved as well. These are small children at around the ages of 5 ( I am estimating, there could be younger ones) and up that are being used as weapons of war! Think about what would happen if this was occurring in any European country. What do you think the reaction and support of the international community would be?

Young soldier in the LRA

During the Twentieth Century, war played a major role in shaping the way it played out. For example, we have World War 1 known as the Great War back then. This first World War cost billions of dollars to train for, fight in, and clean up. It has been one of the most deadliest wars costing millions of people's lives. Throughout this war, many weapons were invented. For example, the tank, submarine, and flamethrower were all lethal weapons that were invented. Nationalism also played a key role in men's ideas of joining the military. The army portrayed war as " the sound of blaring trumpets and riding out on cavalry to confront the enemy". Nationalism had a major cause and effect impact on people's actions during the WWI era. WWI caused people to join the military, despite their duties at home( during this time I am sure their duties at home would be to go to war). The effect was them either dying or coming home with contagious diseases and/or their faces had bullet holes in them.

After WWI, much of the world had changed. Russia was introduced to communism by Lenin and they became known as the Soviet Union. Self-determination and a feeling for democracy were also major trends in the 1910-1939 periods. Fascism was introduced in the 1920's by Mussolini of Italy. This was the idea that war was looked upon as a good thing and nationalism was extremely popular with this ideology.

WWI Flamethrower

As we all know it, people tend to be put under categories due to their race. I myself have done this before and have found out that I am over 60% incorrect when I try and put people under categories just by looking at them. People to me may look totally different to my best friend. As a result of this crude judging, we live in a segragated society. You have the whites and you have the blacks. If a white and black guy were being interviewed for the a job, who do you think would get the job, seeing that we live in such a judgmental society? Race should not have any impact on this, but in today's world anything is possible. Everyone, no matter what color they are, has a talent and no one can take that away like it was some piece of bread.

Two soldiers: White and Black

During this year I learned a little bit about Mount Everest. The world is a very big place with a lot of cool and interesting places to go, Mt. Everest being one of them. As we may know, this is the tallest mountain in the world. People take trips up to this mountain as a vacation. It takes weeks to prepare for this awesome and edifying challenge. Not everyone can climb Mt. Everest though. However, oxygen tanks have been invented to help people breathe when they climb this mountain. Still, with this help it takes a lot of physical and mental strength to complete this task.

Hangliding over Mt. Everest

Culture is a big deal in Japan. I learned that to smile at a person can make the situation awkward and they would look down on you. A person also wants to avoid confrontation when you have a business meeting one-on-one. Proper etiquette is essential in a place like Japan. Handshakes are not accepted and are looked down on. Eye contact is also not accepted. There is so many rules concerning proper etiquette and culture in Japan and I am glad know the basics.

Bowing Protocol