| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico 
Calderon Says He Won't Relent on Drug Fight
 William Booth - Washington Post
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June 17, 2010
 |  | In an editorial printed in newspapers across the country Monday, President Felipe Calderon defended his drug war as vital to the country's national security. |  | | |
Mexico City - An explosion of drug violence in Mexico has claimed hundreds of lives in the past five days and prompted the country's president to issue a 5,000-word manifesto warning that the fight against organized crime must continue, "or we will always live in fear."
As the latest spasm of killing has spread across the country, cartel assassins, local thugs and federal troops have died in running gun battles, highway ambushes and prison melees. On Tuesday, fresh shooting broke out in the popular tourist town of Taxco, south of the Mexican capital. Mexican army troops, acting on a tip, raided a house, and a firefight ensued - leaving 14 gunmen dead.
The string of grisly attacks since Thursday has included the execution-style slaying of 19 drug addicts in a rehabilitation clinic and several lethal assaults targeting police, including an ambush this week that killed 12 federal officers.
In an editorial printed in newspapers across the country Monday, President Felipe Calderon defended his drug war as vital to the country's national security. More than 23,000 people have died in drug-related violence since December 2006, when Mr. Calderon first sent the Mexican military into the streets, according to a government report.
The Mexican president directly blamed the United States. "The origin of our violence problem begins with the fact that Mexico is located next to the country that has the highest levels of drug consumption in the world," Mr. Calderon wrote. "It is as if our neighbor were the biggest drug addict in the world."
The cartels, Mr. Calderon said, have grown rich and bold - fed with billions of dollars from the United States. Experts estimate that between $10 billion and $25 billion in drug profits flow to Mexico each year from the north. About 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States passes through Mexico, which also smuggles at least half of the marijuana and methamphetamine sold in American cities. Meanwhile, many of the weapons the cartels use, including grenades and military-style assault rifles, are smuggled into Mexico from the United States.
Mr. Calderon told his country that Mexico would be in a much worse state if his administration had not decided to take on the criminal gangs. It is a battle that is supported by the Obama administration and Congress, which has dedicated $1.3 billion in aid to train police, reform the courts and supply drug-sniffing dogs, armored cars, night-vision goggles and Black Hawk military helicopters.
Several hundred Mexicans, including police officers, have been killed in armed confrontations in the past week, in some of the worst violence since the U.S.-backed drug war began.
The Mexican newspapers that keep tallies of drug-related violence reported that a record was set last week, when 85 people died in a 24-hour period - topping the previous record of 58 killed in November 2008.
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