Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 2010
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Authors: David Luhnow and Nicholas Casey
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Juarez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico

KILLINGS CAST PALL ON MEXICO DRUG PLAN

Calderon's Strategy of Using Army Patrols Draws Fire as Juarez, a 
Centerpiece of the Push, Turns Into a Murder Capital

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico--The gangland-style murders of three people 
with ties to the U.S. consulate in this border city have confirmed 
for many people what residents here already knew: President Felipe 
Calderon's strategy of sending in the troops to corral drug gangs has failed.

The gritty working-class city of 1.5 million has become a litmus test 
for Mr. Calderon's antidrug strategy and, by extension, his 
presidency. The conservative leader took power vowing to bring 
cartels to heel, and chose Mexico's army rather than local police to 
do the job, sending 45,000 troops to various hot spots, including 
7,000 to Juarez.

But violence has skyrocketed in Juarez, an assembly center for export 
goods that never escaped its roots as a border playground for 
Americans. It has suffered a disproportionate amount of the mayhem, 
accounting for 5,349 out of more than 18,000 drug-related murders 
across Mexico since Mr. Calderon took power in December 2006.

"It's a complete failure," Oscar Cantu, publisher of local newspaper 
El Norte, says of Mr. Calderon's enforcement strategy.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, while praising 
Mr. Calderon's antidrug efforts, said this week the military 
deployment "hasn't helped."

On Tuesday, Mr. Calderon visited the city, just days after an 
American couple, including a woman who was four months pregnant and 
worked at the U.S. consulate, were killed in broad daylight. 
Separately, another man married to a consulate worker was killed.

The president told residents he regretted the "cowardly" murders and 
that the fight for Juarez was crucial to Mexico's future. Mr. 
Calderon resisted calls by some protesters to pull out the army, 
saying "I don't think that's going to help Juarez's security problem."

The president's top aides tacitly acknowledge that the army strategy 
hasn't worked. Officials say they will try two new approaches: a 
greater focus on intelligence work, and an effort to create jobs, 
build schools, open parks and counsel drug addicts.

On March 23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead a top-level 
delegation to Mexico, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, 
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Director of National 
Intelligence Dennis Blair, to discuss efforts against drug cartels, 
Reuters reported State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley as saying Wednesday.

Juarez, considered the world's murder capital, is caught in a turf 
war between two Mexican drug gangs fighting to control smuggling 
rights to the giant U.S. market. The violence scares away investment 
needed to reduce poverty and undercut drug gangs. The local 
manufacturers' trade group estimates nearly $1 billion in potential 
investment has been lost over the past two years due to the insecurity.

Amid a wave of extortions, many city businesses have shut their 
doors. Many families with the means have fled across the border to El 
Paso, Texas.

On the day the Americans were murdered, six other people were killed 
here in drug-related hits, according to local newspaper reports. A 
typical incident: A man identified only as Nicolas was riding a 
bicycle on a boulevard at 8 p.m. when he was chased by gunmen in a 
car. He tried to hide but was gunned down. The car drove off.

Part of the problem is that the military doesn't have the training 
for intelligence work or counterinsurgency operations that could help 
turn the tide in Juarez, experts say. Until now, the troops' main 
function has been to patrol Juarez and other cities. Most troops 
rotate out after two-month assignments.

"This was an improvised strategy that wasn't thought through," says 
Arturo Yanez, a former federal antidrug official. Mr. Calderon hasn't 
wanted to use Mexico's local cops, which are widely perceived as 
corrupt. The army serves as a stopgap while new federal police forces 
are trained. Mr. Yanez says that money and training should flow not 
to the army but toward local prosecutors and cops. Local police still 
aren't allowed to investigate organized crime. "We aren't doing 
enough to support the guys on the ground who can get the best 
intelligence," he says.

Other experts say Mexico's army of conscripts could develop 
intelligence capacity if it got more direct training from the U.S. 
military. The U.S. has pledged about $400 million a year in antidrug 
aid to Mexico, though much of the money is for hardware such as 
helicopters and hasn't yet been disbursed.

"A related lesson from Colombia's experience is that if government 
forces have the technology and training, they can get ahead of these 
violent organizations," says Jay Cope, a fellow at the National 
Defense University and a retired U.S. Army Colonel.

Mexico, however, is reluctant to ask for increased training. Soon 
after the U.S. government said the FBI would help Mexico investigate 
the recent killings of the Americans, several Mexican senators 
complained about a violation of "sovereignty."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake