Thread: Governors Vow to Help Mexico on Violence

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 11 minutes ago



TORREON, Mexico - The governors of California, Texas and six Mexican border states promised on Thursday to work together to fight a wave of drug-fueled violence in border communities.

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Gov. Rick Perry of Texas said at the start of the two-day meeting that his state stands ready to help Mexico in the battle, noting Texas has already allocated an additional $5 million to support law enforcement along the border, and has increased the presence of state troopers in that area.

"One of the greatest challenges our nations face is putting off the violence of drug traffickers and ending the violence it has brought to both sides of the border," Perry said.

"The fact is that there can be no homeland security without border security," he noted.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not address the gathering in the northern industrial city of Torreon, and organizers said he would attend the governors' dinner and return to California.

Law enforcement representatives from both sides of the border are also expected to present a plan that includes sharing information on gangs and establishing a joint radio communications system, said Tony Garcia, deputy commander at the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Garcia, who is member of a binational committee on border security, said the plan also includes installing emergency response equipment that can be accessed and used by both U.S. and Mexican police in the event of a terrorist attack, chemical spill or natural disaster.

"Public safety is a top priority for the border region because if you don't have it, tourism falls down, trade can go to the wayside," Garcia said.

Cities on both sides of the border rely on tourists who cross over to shop and visit relatives. But recent violence, especially in Nuevo Laredo, has diminished that cross-border trade.

The violence in Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, has left 87 people dead since the beginning of the year. It also prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory alerting citizens to recent drug-trafficking and kidnappings on the Mexican side of the border.

The plan also calls for better training for Mexican police, programs to prevent violence along the border, and the creation of a database containing the identities of members of criminal organizations, including the Zetas, a group of Mexican soldiers-turned-drug hit men believed to be controlling Nuevo Laredo.

Garcia said Chihuahua law enforcement officials also have begun work on a database of members of the Mara Salvatrucha and the MS-18, two of the most ruthless Central American gangs. Their members have spread to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The gangs got their start in Los Angeles in the 1980s, becoming popular among Salvadorans who fled to the United States to escape their country's civil war.

A decade later, they had spread to Central America â€â€

Mexicans also were angered when Republican-sponsored bills were introduced into the state legislature, aimed at denying a series of benefits to illegal immigrants and creating a state border police force.

Like we care what Mexico thinks

An Assembly committee rejected the bills, but legislators said there would be efforts to put their proposals on the ballot next year as initiatives.

Forget the bills, get the U.S Military on our borders.

Thanks for the state troopers Rick. But you should not have offered "aid" to Mexico. Who do you think you work for?

Arnie did the right thing. Ate and left.

GO ARNIE!!

I'm surprised the Mexican Government didn't throw Arnold in jail while he was there for his remarks about the minutemen and closing the border.

Hope he didn't drink any water or eat any bathtub cheese with his dinner, otherwise our new state Governor might be Cruz Bustamante if he didn't survive. That is a scary thought!

Arnie's pretty smart. He probably only "pretended" to eat.