Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jun 2010
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: William Booth, Washington Post

MEXICAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS WAR ON DRUGS AS VITAL

Mexico City - An explosion of drug violence in Mexico has claimed 
hundreds of lives in the past five days and prompted the country's 
president to issue a 5,000-word manifesto warning that the fight 
against organized crime must continue "or we will always live in fear."

As the latest spasm of killing has spread across the country, cartel 
assassins, local thugs and federal troops have died in running 
gunbattles, highway ambushes and prison melees. On Tuesday, fresh 
shooting broke out in the popular tourist town of Taxco, south of the 
Mexican capital. Mexican army troops, acting on a tip, raided a house 
and a firefight ensued, leaving 15 gunmen dead.

The string of grisly attacks since Thursday has included the 
execution-style slaying of 19 drug addicts in a rehabilitation clinic 
and several lethal assaults targeting police, including an ambush 
this week that killed 12 federal officers.

In an editorial printed in newspapers across the country Monday, 
President Felipe Calderon defended his drug war as vital to the 
country's national security. More than 23,000 people have died in 
drug-related violence since December 2006, when Calderon first sent 
the Mexican military into the streets, according to a government report.

The Mexican president directly blamed the United States.

"The origin of our violence problem begins with the fact that Mexico 
is located next to the country that has the highest levels of drug 
consumption in the world," Calderon wrote. "It is as if our neighbor 
were the biggest drug addict in the world."

The cartels, Calderon said, have grown rich and bold - fed with 
billions of dollars from the United States. Experts estimate that 
between $10 billion and $25 billion in drug profits flow to Mexico 
each year from the north. About 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in 
the United States passes through Mexico, which also smuggles at least 
half of the marijuana and methamphetamine sold in American cities. 
Meanwhile, many of the weapons the cartels use, including grenades 
and military-style assault rifles, are smuggled into Mexico from the 
United States.

Calderon told his country that Mexico would be in a much worse state 
if his administration had not decided to take on the criminal gangs. 
It is a battle that is supported by the Obama administration and 
Congress, which has dedicated $1.3 billion in aid to train police, 
reform the courts and supply drug-sniffing dogs, armored cars, 
night-vision goggles and Black Hawk military helicopters.

Several hundred Mexicans, including police officers, have been killed 
in armed confrontations in the past week in some of the worst 
violence since the U.S.-backed drug war began.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom