The Responsibility to Protect Sea Turtles

NPR had a mildly interesting piece this weekend on the efforts of the Mexican Navy to protect endangered sea turtles in Oaxaca. The turtles are valued on the black market for a number of properties, and would quickly disappear without protection. With protection, of course, value rises and incentives for poaching increase. This story isn't new; the Mexican Navy has been conducting the operation since the early 1990s. Nevertheless, it's an interesting example of what navies can do in service of tourism and of local economic management.

On a related note, I'm curious as to why the Mexican Navy has always maintained a relatively low profile. In general, Mexico has pursue a minimalist strategy in terms of defense; in spite of having a large and relatively affluent population, Mexico has typically ranked very low in terms of Latin American defense spending. Unlike the nations of the Southern Cone, Mexico never made an apparent effort to join the dreadnought race, or to acquire an aircraft carrier. Mexico has also been slow, for a country its size, to pursue purchase or construction of an amphibious warfare capability, although it does possess two old Newport class LSTs. The obvious explanation for this is the proximity of the United States. That explanation leads in two different directions, however. Has Mexico maintained a low defense profile because the proximity of the US means that Mexico has nothing to fear (from anyone except the US)? Or has the US pressured Mexico to maintain low defense spending? Any thoughts welcome...

...here is a conference paper on potential Mexican membership in NATO.