| | |  Editorials | Issues | March 2009 
Mexico: The War Next Door - Part 4
 CBS News
go to original
Recent polls show most Mexicans believe their government is losing the war. But Medina-Mora insists the escalating violence is a sign the cartels are weakening and becoming desperate.
"It will take time. It will cost a lot of money. It will cost lives. But we will certainly win this war," he predicted.
"What is it that gives you hope, though? I mean…more than 8,000 dead in the last two years, corruption at all levels of government and the police," Cooper asked.
"We have seized 70 metric tons of cocaine," Medina-Mora said. "We have arrested 57,000 people out of which 46,000 are drug-related."
Mexico is extraditing more of its high level alleged drug lords to the U.S. and is beginning to receive some of the $1.4 billion the United States has committed to help Mexico fight its war. The majority of that money will go towards equipment and training. But Janet Napolitano, the new head of homeland security is preparing in case the violence spreads.
"We're in constant contact with law enforcement on both sides. And we have some contingency plans should it escalate and actually spill over into the United States," she told Cooper.
"There have been reports that the U.S. considered the possibility of having a surge on the border. Maybe even involving U.S. military personnel," Cooper remarked.
"Well, That would be, certainly a last resort. Because civilian law enforcement is obviously what would be called on first," Napolitano said.
The power of Mexico's drug cartels has already spread far beyond the border. Just this week, the Justice Department announced they had arrested more than 700 people in the U.S. connected to just one cartel.
Mexican traffickers are operating in some 230 American cities, according to the Justice Department, and they're now considered the number one organized crime threat in the United States.
"You're seeing drug cartel involvement in Anchorage, Alaska. In South Dakota. In Atlanta. In New York City," Cooper told Napolitano.
"Right. Right. That's why I say every- you know, the United States has a real stake in this. We have a stake in it - at that level. That- that they're selling drugs. These drugs are being distributed throughout our cities, our communities, our neighborhoods. So this issue in Mexico, this very brave battle that the president of Mexico is fighting, is something that every American has a stake in," she replied.
Asked if it affects all of us, Napolitano said, "Yes."
|
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us