Thread: Coordinated effort sought to quell border violence

Coordinated effort sought to quell border violence
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 05/23/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT





AUSTIN -- The U.S. and Mexico must work together to fight drug violence across the border, a Department of Homeland Security official said Thursday.
Al Peña, Mexico attaché for the Department of Homeland Security, said more than 6,000 have died in Mexico's drug war in the past 2å years, and he pointed to media reports comparing the situation to Baghdad, Iraq. If the cartels are not curtailed, Peña said, the U.S., too, could be at risk.

"It is imperative that together our governments confront them with the full force of the law," he told a conference gathered to discuss border security.

Peña praised Mexican President Felipe Calderón's efforts to combat drug cartels and said the government's determination to root out the cartels has caused violence to escalate.

Calderón has deployed about 30,000 soldiers nationally and has committed billions to the fight, he said.

In Juárez, where 2,500 soldiers and federal officers are patrolling the streets, hundreds have died since the military descended on the city earlier this year.

If the U.S. doesn't help, he said, the corruption and evil could spill north.

"These enemies are our enemies, too," Peña said.

He mentioned the Bush Administration's Merida Plan, which would send about $1.5 billion in aide to Mexico over the next three years.

At the same conference on Wednesday, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico's deputy federal attorney general for international affairs, told the audience his country is trying to

establish public, oral trials and new roles for judges along with protection of victims to stop organized crime.
"This is the enemy that Mexico is confronting with all of its resources," Vasconcelos said.

But, he said, about $10 billion a year in cash and weapons flow into Mexico from the U.S. Vasconcelos told of one alleged criminal who spent $190 million in Las Vegas, including $14 million in one night.

Tony Payan, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the Merida Plan is far from enough to help Mexico fight drug lords.

The U.S., he said, could help most by reducing drug consumption and controlling firearms that fuel the battles in Mexico.

"I don't think they're serious about helping Mexico in that sense," Payan said.

But, he added, that does not mean the violence and corruption from Mexico will spill over.

Violence across the border has spiked and waned for years, but cities like El Paso remain among the safest in the U.S.


Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom @elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.






http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9351672

I think the US MUST seal the border and take care of ourselves, we should not accept any "help" from Mexico (as we've more than learned). Place National Guard along the border until Mexico takes care of its own problems. We can still deport Mexican nationals as we find them.

I agree Miguelina.

This persistant argument that the United States must help Mexico is well beyond consideration. Mexico, and anyone else, believing that we should somehow assist them with anything at this point, really has one hell of a nerve.

Mexico has proven itself a threat to the United States and I would not put it past them for, one minute, to drag us into this mess under the guise of needing our "help", only to turn around and end up engaging us in a conflict.

The only thing we need to do is militarize our border, continue getting illegal aliens out of here as fast as we can, and let Mexico know, in no uncertain terms, that they will not be getting any more help from us.

If they need help, I'd suggest they go crying to all of the other Latin American countries Calderon went and signed "anti American alliances" with.

Duplicate post.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-116579-vasconcelos.html