 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2007 
Calderon: Army to Continue to Fight Organized Crime
 Associated Press
| | Surveillance cameras are monitored by police officers at the police command center in the border city of Tijuana. Endemic police corruption - ranging from traffic violation bribes to openly aiding drug gangs - is undermining President Felipe Calderon's attempt to crush powerful cartels with thousands of troops and federal police. (Reuters/Tomas Bravo) |
Mexico City — Mexican President Felipe Calderon indicated Thursday he does not intend to withdraw army troops soon from the nationwide crackdown on organized crime despite a request by opposition lawmakers concerned with alleged human rights abuses.
Without mentioning the military by name, Calderon, on a trip to the northern state of Durango, said the government's position "is clear: not one step backward in the task of defending Mexico."
On Wednesday, opposition lawmakers urged Calderon to bolster Mexico's police forces to combat powerful drug cartels, stating in a nonbinding resolution that "the intervention of the army in public safety tasks has taken on messianic proportions."
The request from Congress' Permanent Commission, a reduced number of legislators who meet when the full body is in recess, came as officials from the National Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International insisted that soldiers are not trained to perform civilian tasks and therefore are more prone to committing human rights abuses.
Accompanying Calderon, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina said the government would use the armed forces for as long as necessary, although he added that they would not be able to do the work that is normally the responsibility of police forces forever.
Since taking office in December, Calderon has sent 24,000 troops throughout the country to battle drug traffickers who have been fighting each other for territory over the past few years, killing thousands. Police forces plagued by corruption and poor training have been unable to control the warring cartels.
"We can't abandon the luck of our cities and our heritage to crime," Calderon said. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us