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Obama is in Mexico

16 Apr 2009

President Barack Obama has begun his much-anticipated trip to Mexico today, and both here and there people are expecting a lot out of this visit. Up for discussion with Obama’s counterpart, President Felipe Calderón, are the issues of trade, immigration and — perhaps the biggest standout — the U.S.’s role in fighting the drug war which has plagued Mexico of late.

I’m not expecting much to come of the immigration conversation, but Obama did make a promising statement on the issue of U.S. involvement in ending drug-related violence:

“It is absolutely critical that the United States joins as a full partner” with Mexico in the battle against drug cartels, Obama said at a welcoming ceremony with Calderon. The two nations must “stand side by side in order to promote common security and common prosperity,” he said.

As we here at home hope for some progress in Mexico-U.S. relations, Mexicans in Mexico have their own set of wishes and requests for President Obama. Back in January, Al Jazeera interviewed people on the street in Mexico City to ask them what they would ask of the new U.S. President. Their answers are compelling. Check it out, and let’s see if they — and we — get our wishes.

Via / Bloomberg

Massive Grave in Mexico Linked to Drug Cartels

6:40 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| U.S.-Mexico Border| Violence| mexico| society · 2 Comments

15 Mar 2009

A grave containing 9 bodies was discovered over the weekend in Juarez, Mexico, and all signs point to the fact that this is yet another bloody chapter in Mexico’s on-going drug wars. CNN reports:

Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns.

The discovery coincides with the arrival of some 5,000 Mexican troops dispatched to Ciudad Juarez in an effort to put a stop the the heightening violence in the city.

To get a sense for what drug violence is doing to Ciudad Juarez (incidentally also infamous for the mysterious murders of hundreds of women over the past several years), have a look at the above video from the YouTube and Pulitzer Center “Project: Report” project.

Via / CNN

Drug Related Violence in Mexico Continues

3:08 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| mexico · 2 Comments

17 Nov 2008

tijuana%20drug%20war.jpg The BBC News is reporting that the drug related violence in Mexico was especially intense this weekend: Eleven were killed, including a young girl:

A teenage girl was among 11 people shot dead in suspected drug-related violence at the weekend in the northern city of Tijuana, authorities in Mexico say.

In one attack, masked gunmen opened fire in a pool hall, killing five people, while the girl, 14, and two men were killed in a shootout in a street.

This violence came shortly after at least one thousand people marched through Tijana demanding and end to the violence. Even worse, this violence comes after the brutal kidnapping/murder of a young boy earlier this month:

Kidnappers grabbed a 5-year-old boy from a gritty Mexico City street market, then killed him by injecting acid into his heart — a new low even for Mexico’s brutal kidnapping gangs.

The boy, Javier Morena, was the oldest son of a poor family that sold fruit at a market in the tough neighborhood of Iztapalapa, proof that the plague of kidnappings for ransom afflicts the working class as well as the wealthy.

So what is Mexican president, Felipe Calderon doing about all this? Congratulating himself on job well done. Of course.

Mexico has made “important achievements” in fighting drugs under the current administration, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Sunday.

Some 43 tons of cocaine have been seized in the littorals of the country since his government took office in December 2006, Calderon said at the welcoming ceremony in Acapulco Port for the arrival of School Vessel “Cuauhtemoc” after its international tour.

“The trafficking of that dangerous drug” was controlled, Calderon said.

For some reason, I’m thinking that concentrating on how great it is to find drugs is not quite what most Mexicans are hoping for when little boys are getting their hearts injected with acid. For some reason, I think those people might be hoping for a focus on human life and safety.

You can always count on the Mexican government to be in step with it’s people.

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Posts Tagged ‘drug war’

Obama is in Mexico

Massive Grave in Mexico Linked to Drug Cartels

Drug Related Violence in Mexico Continues

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