What we owed Mexico
===================

What we owed Mexico is John Kiriakou's explanation, given on 22 October 2025, of why close and genuine cooperation between American and Mexican security agencies has produced so little, and why he regards the drug question as downstream of a much older economic one.

Good cooperation, poor results

The question came from the host: given very good cooperation between Mexican and American law enforcement and intelligence, why is no more progress made in stemming the flow across the border?

Kiriakou's answer does not blame the Mexican side. "Because even the Mexican government, the federales, who by all accounts are great, gung-ho, working for the right reasons" and, as the host added and he affirmed, "incorruptible. That's why they're successful", "even the federales have two hands tied behind their backs."

The reason is force. The cartels, in his account, are simply too strong, and the practical consequence follows: "the government doesn't control certain parts of Mexico."

The affection, and the omission

Before reaching his indictment, Kiriakou pauses to establish standing. "You know, Ted, I know you've been to Mexico many times. I've been to Mexico many times. I've been all over Mexico. I love it, too. The only place I haven't been is Chiapas, and I'd love to see it."

The hundred years

The substantive claim follows immediately, and is about American policy rather than Mexican capacity. "We should have been helping the Mexicans develop their economy for the last hundred years. And we haven't. We've punished them. We've tried to keep them out, force them out. And we've supported the most retrograde factions in their political scheme."

He names the result in a single sentence: "we allowed four families to run, to own, the entire economy."

Haiti

The generalisation arrives via a second country. "It's just like Haiti. We lament, like: oh, poor Haiti. Oh, we wish we could help Haiti."

And the conclusion, which is the same one he applies to Venezuela, Iran and Cuba: "hardworking, very intelligent people, who would do great if we just left them the hell alone."

The passage sits directly after his account of where Venezuelan-transiting cocaine actually goes, east to Africa and on to Europe, not north, and the two arguments are meant to be read together: the drugs killing Americans come chiefly through Mexico and China, and the country the United States is threatening is the wrong one.

See also

- The West Africa cocaine route
- Venezuela Boat Strikes
- Fentanyl and China
- John Kiriakou
