ABSTRACT
President Felipe Calderón of Mexico has led an ambitious militarized assault on organized crime throughout his sexenio. The results of that strategy have been mixed, especially in terms of increased drug-related homicides, which now total more than 60,000 since his term began in 2006 (“Mexico’s presidential election” 2012). With the introduction of California’s Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana for recreational consumption in California, domestic and foreign policy in Mexico collided in a strange and unpredictable way. Mexico staunchly opposed the legislation, yet had earlier taken steps toward the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs domestically. Later, Calderón would even discuss “market alternatives” to the “drug war” as a viable area for discussion. How can these seemingly contradictory policies be reconciled? What has been missing in the explanations of President Calderón’s foreign policy on Proposition 19? What was the impact of Proposition 19 on the legalization debate in Mexico?
