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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2007 
Calderón Encourages Alliance for Security
 Francisco Gómez - El Universal
| | Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, left, speaks with Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe during the Plan Puebla-Panama Summit in Campeche, Mexico, Tuesday, April 10, 2007. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
Veracruz - President Calderón on Saturday remained defiant in the face of rising violence as his government continues to battle organized crime.
"We will not cede one public plaza to the enemy," he said at the Navy College in Veracruz. "We must establish an alliance with the public, as well as with all levels and branches of government to fight crime, especially drug-related crimes and those acts that threaten the safety of our youth."
Calderón said only such a broad alliance would allow the government to re-establish security in the country and guarantee the liberty of all Mexicans.
"Any act of collusion with these (criminals) is an act of betrayal," he said, emphasizing that his administration was determined to weed out corruption in police forces across the nation. "We must make it clear that working with or cooperating with these forces of evil is not acceptable."
Calderón presided over a swearing-in ceremony for new cadets attending the Navy College in this port city.
The president was accompanied by Navy Secretary Francisco Saynez and Defense Secretary Gen. Guillermo Galván.
Calderón paid special homage to the efforts of the armed forces as they have taken up the front lines in the war on drugs.
In Mexico City, a Public Security Secretariat (SSP) official said the recent uptick in drug-related violence is primarily due to the ease with which criminal organizations can acquire high-powered automatic weapons in the United States.
These weapons are then smuggled into Mexico and allow cartels and criminal gangs to outgun police authorities.
"We really need to establish more comprehensive cooperation with U.S. authorities in order to get a better handle on this problem," Patricio Patińo told EL UNIVERSAL on Saturday.
"The high-caliber weaponry at the disposal of these criminal elements is also evident in the increasing violence we are witnessing," he said. "They have high-powered, sophisticated armaments and they aren´t afraid to use them. The result is a dramatic increase in bloodshed." |
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