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 Editorials | Issues | May 2007 
After Mexico's Soldiers Join Drug Fight, More Die
 Carlos Martinez & Sam Enriquez - LATimes
| | The soldier deaths are among more than 1,000 killings so far this year attributed to drug violence. |
Mexico City - The number of Mexican soldiers slain has jumped dramatically since President Felipe Calderon began using the army to battle drug traffickers.
Since December, when Calderon began the campaign, 89 soldiers have been reported killed, compared with fewer than a dozen from January through November 2006, according to army records.
The escalation of attacks on soldiers has come as 12,700 troops man roadside checkpoints and patrol cities in nine Mexican states where rival drug gangs battle for control of ports, roads and other smuggling routes.
The Mexican army reported 27 of the killings since December were of soldiers on duty; 37 were killed off-duty, and the circumstances of the other 25 deaths remained under investigation.
Calderon dispatched the army, along with several thousand federal police, shortly after taking office because of concerns that incompetence and corruption had hampered local and state police and judges from combating well-financed drug gangs. More than 2,000 killings last year reportedly were drug-related.
The killings include an ambush of five men, including a colonel, in the state of Michoacan this month. In April, the bodies of three soldiers were found with evidence of torture. A message next to the bodies said, "Whoever gets involved will die."
The soldier deaths are among more than 1,000 killings so far this year attributed to drug violence, according to tallies by Mexican newspapers. The government does not keep an official count.
Calderon's failure to slow the violence has drawn criticism from opposition parties, which have called on him to revise his military strategy. Calderon said Thursday during a speech in the state of Durango that he was not ready to change course.
"Organized crime wants to scare the Mexican people," Calderon said. "It wants to scare the Mexican people so that the government crosses its arms and they go unpunished. They want us to retreat. . . . Our stance is clear: not a step backward."
Army salaries have gone up slightly, but pay for the lowest ranks begins at about $2,460 a year, plus room, board, uniforms and medical care. Generals are paid $8,000 to $10,000 a year. |
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