Homeland Security official says U.S., Mexico must work together on drug war
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 05/22/2008 04:56:10 PM 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 DHS, said more than 6,000 have died in Mexico's drug war in the last two-and-a-half 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 Calderon's efforts to combat drug cartels and said the government's determination to root out the cartels has caused violence to escalate.

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

In Juarez, where thousands of federal troops are now 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 that would send about $1.5 billion in aide to Mexico during 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 money and weapons flow into Mexico from the U.S.

Vasconcelos told of one suspected 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 said, that does not mean the violence and corruption from Mexico will spillover.

Violence across the border has spiked and waned for years, but El Paso remains among the safest cities in the United States.

Brandi Grissom can be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; (512) 479-6606.




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