10-03-2009, 11:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-03-2009, 11:59 PM by Tosh Plumlee.)
Calderon Links US to Mexico Drug Trade
March 05, 2009
Agence France-Presse
Mexican President Felipe Calderon hit back in an interview at charges his government is failing in its war against drug cartels, saying corruption in the United States is also to blame.
With murders among feuding Mexican drug cartels on the rise and demand for cocaine and other drugs north of the border, Calderon said the United States should take a hard look at itself before pointing the finger at anyone else.
"The main cause of the problems associated with organized crime is having the world's biggest consumer next to us," Calderon told AFP in an interview Wednesday.
"Drug trafficking in the United States is fueled by the phenomenon of corruption on the part of the American authorities," he said, calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to step up the fight against drugs in his own country.
Calderon admitted some Mexican officials had helped cartels, but urged the United States to consider how many of its officials have been implicated.
"I want to know how many American officials have been prosecuted for this," he said, listing a string of prosecutions made against Mexican police officers and government officials during his administration.
"It is not an exclusively Mexican problem, it is a common problem between Mexico and the United States," he said.
Cocaine is produced in South America, but the Mexican cartels control most of the multi-billion-dollar trade.
Calderon launched a wide-ranging crackdown on drug cartels soon after taking office in late 2006. The cartels in turn hit back with ever-higher levels of violence and intimidation.
Mexican border cities have suffered the brunt of the violence, prompting concerns in Washington that the killings and attacks could spill over into the United States.
Some 5,300 people were murdered in drug violence across Mexico in 2008. Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, was worst hit, with more than 1,600 drug-related deaths reported.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the head of the U.S. military, is due in Mexico this week as Washington prepares to step up military and other assistance to battle the cartels.
A top agenda item is "the growing violence and growing threat with regard to narco-trafficking and the drug cartels," Mullen's spokesman, Captain John Kirby, told AFP.
Mexico's police and security forces are often out-gunned by the well-financed gangs.
The administration of George W. Bush pledged 1.6 billion dollars over three years in security assistance to Mexico and Central America, primarily aimed at better equipping Mexico's security forces.
Calderon called on U.S. officials to staunch the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico.
"The biggest empowerment of organized crime are the weapons that arrive from the United States," Calderon said.
"Since 2006 we have decommissioned 27,000 weapons, everything from missile launchers to 2,500 grenades. We have also found uniforms and weapons belonging to the U.S. Army."
But he said recent talks with Obama offered hope.
"We now have a clearer, more decisive response (from the current administration), one which matches the magnitude of the problem which we face," he said.
In late February, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said U.S. and Mexican authorities had arrested 750 people over 21 months in an anti-drug sweep, including 52 members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
The Calderon government has deployed 36,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of police officers in Mexico's most violent cities in a bid to end drug related violence.
In the latest sweep, police in Cancun said late Wednesday they arrested Antelmo Lazaro "El Chamoy" Rodriguez, accused of being a leader of the "Zetas," a paramilitary gang of hitmen working for the Gulf of Mexico drug cartel.
The original Zetas were elite special forces soldiers trained to find and detain drug lords, but a group of deserters formed the gang in the late 1990s.
© Copyright 2009 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This was covered in program by tosh... sorta confirms segments of program.
Where has the U.S. mainstream media been on this?
Mockingbird alive and well
March 05, 2009
Agence France-Presse
Mexican President Felipe Calderon hit back in an interview at charges his government is failing in its war against drug cartels, saying corruption in the United States is also to blame.
With murders among feuding Mexican drug cartels on the rise and demand for cocaine and other drugs north of the border, Calderon said the United States should take a hard look at itself before pointing the finger at anyone else.
"The main cause of the problems associated with organized crime is having the world's biggest consumer next to us," Calderon told AFP in an interview Wednesday.
"Drug trafficking in the United States is fueled by the phenomenon of corruption on the part of the American authorities," he said, calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to step up the fight against drugs in his own country.
Calderon admitted some Mexican officials had helped cartels, but urged the United States to consider how many of its officials have been implicated.
"I want to know how many American officials have been prosecuted for this," he said, listing a string of prosecutions made against Mexican police officers and government officials during his administration.
"It is not an exclusively Mexican problem, it is a common problem between Mexico and the United States," he said.
Cocaine is produced in South America, but the Mexican cartels control most of the multi-billion-dollar trade.
Calderon launched a wide-ranging crackdown on drug cartels soon after taking office in late 2006. The cartels in turn hit back with ever-higher levels of violence and intimidation.
Mexican border cities have suffered the brunt of the violence, prompting concerns in Washington that the killings and attacks could spill over into the United States.
Some 5,300 people were murdered in drug violence across Mexico in 2008. Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, was worst hit, with more than 1,600 drug-related deaths reported.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the head of the U.S. military, is due in Mexico this week as Washington prepares to step up military and other assistance to battle the cartels.
A top agenda item is "the growing violence and growing threat with regard to narco-trafficking and the drug cartels," Mullen's spokesman, Captain John Kirby, told AFP.
Mexico's police and security forces are often out-gunned by the well-financed gangs.
The administration of George W. Bush pledged 1.6 billion dollars over three years in security assistance to Mexico and Central America, primarily aimed at better equipping Mexico's security forces.
Calderon called on U.S. officials to staunch the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico.
"The biggest empowerment of organized crime are the weapons that arrive from the United States," Calderon said.
"Since 2006 we have decommissioned 27,000 weapons, everything from missile launchers to 2,500 grenades. We have also found uniforms and weapons belonging to the U.S. Army."
But he said recent talks with Obama offered hope.
"We now have a clearer, more decisive response (from the current administration), one which matches the magnitude of the problem which we face," he said.
In late February, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said U.S. and Mexican authorities had arrested 750 people over 21 months in an anti-drug sweep, including 52 members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
The Calderon government has deployed 36,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of police officers in Mexico's most violent cities in a bid to end drug related violence.
In the latest sweep, police in Cancun said late Wednesday they arrested Antelmo Lazaro "El Chamoy" Rodriguez, accused of being a leader of the "Zetas," a paramilitary gang of hitmen working for the Gulf of Mexico drug cartel.
The original Zetas were elite special forces soldiers trained to find and detain drug lords, but a group of deserters formed the gang in the late 1990s.
© Copyright 2009 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This was covered in program by tosh... sorta confirms segments of program.
Where has the U.S. mainstream media been on this?
Mockingbird alive and well