The drug connection between Seattle and Central America

ON a recent trip to Guatemala, one of the most beautiful and violent countries in Central America, I was struck by what I heard and what could be the future for this fragile country, as well as how that might impact our own.

"We may have two elections left," a prominent Central American business leader told me.

"Until what?" I asked.

"Until it doesn't matter who is president — they will represent the drug cartels," he answered.

Shocked, I asked a highly placed justice official there if that were possible and he answered, "What is an election but money?"

Tucked right below Mexico, Guatemala, with a population of 13 million people, is gradually becoming controlled by drug money. In a December 2008 interview with Time, U.S. Ambassador Stephen G. McFarland said 400 metric tons of cocaine now pass through Central America, mostly through Guatemala. And the problem is increasing, fueled by corruption, poverty and a global demand for high-quality drugs.

We've heard a lot recently about drug cartels and violence in Mexico. But we seldom hear about the price paid in the rest of Central America. Since the peace accords of the late 1980s, we have turned our attention elsewhere and all but ignored the region — possibly to our detriment. Now the threat isn't internal conflict or the spread of communism. It is the possibility of the state's failure, fueled by millions and millions of dollars of drug money.

What would it be like if the entire Guatemalan government were controlled by drug cartels? Who would we work with to combat the problem? In essence, government would protect trade — controlling customs and ports. These questions and thoughts consumed me on my flight home.

The damage that the U.S. demand for drugs causes the societies through which these drugs travel is astonishing. In Guatemala, it started quietly with speedboats and small planes making clandestine drops of drugs in remote areas to be moved on to the U.S. Today, the drug trade is no longer hidden. It affects the daily existence of millions living in Central America, in the form of lawlessness, violence, corruption and bribery — with Guatemala, perhaps, experiencing the worst of it. People living in rural areas, especially youth, often have only the option of going along or being killed. It is that black and white.

On my return home, and following the trips by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama to Mexico, we are greeted by the news in our own paper of the presence of a Honduran drug gang right here in Seattle. A recent bust in Belltown put 30 of 52 targeted suspects under arrest. That leaves 22 of them still on the streets.

In the meantime, drug cartels in Guatemala are growing stronger, using their power to diversify into extortion and protection rackets. No person or sector is immune. Bus drivers, who must collect cash as part of their job, are the latest targets for extortion and murder in Guatemala City. Drug-related kidnappings are taking place in Atlanta and Phoenix.

Typically, we choose to ignore situations until there is a crisis. But we shouldn't wait for this crisis to go much further because it will grow only more violent, dangerous and widespread. As reported in The Week magazine's April 10 issue, retired drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey says: "We cannot afford to have a narco-state as a neighbor."

Well, we may get one, but it might be Guatemala, not Mexico, that gets there first. The risk here is apparent and growing day-by-day. As President Obama and members of his administration are meeting with Mexico to tackle border issues, it is important to remember the problem is far greater and systemic, extending far beyond the violence at the borders.

At the Summit of the Americas last month, Obama stated we should support wider engagement with Central America, our closest neighbors with extreme poverty. I applaud this notion and hope this re-engagement will allow the United States to address a critical problem affecting us in our own backyard. In my travels to the region for the past 15 years, I have met many people, in both government and civil society, working to alleviate poverty and build better societies. This is the time to make Obama's words real and work with these societies to tackle the drug issue and related poverty.

Fortunately, we also have a voice in the person of Obama's drug-czar nominee Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle's own former police chief, whom we can personally encourage to look afresh at the whole geographic, cultural, political and economic picture.

We need immediately to help these under-resourced Central American countries cope with the impact of the wealthy drug cartels. We have been too willing to sit idly by, while the government wastes millions of dollars on solutions that don't solve the problem. It is time we took a fresh look at what works and what doesn't.

In the meantime, the cost has been born in incomprehensible suffering by people elsewhere. But it is and will be a serious local problem. As far removed as we may think we are, Seattle should be very concerned.