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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2007 
Mexican Parties Urge Troop Deployment in Capital
 Hector Tobar - LATimes
| | The bullet-riddled car of Jose Nemesio Lugo, a high-ranking intelligence official and drug investigator who was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Mexico City on Monday. (AP) |
Mexico City - The leaders of two political parties called yesterday for army troops to be dispatched to this capital city and its suburbs to fight drug traffickers in the wake of the assassination of a high-ranking official in the attorney general's office.
President Felipe Calderón promised an "unprecedented battle" against the traffickers, who have killed as many as 1,000 people as they fight each other and Mexican authorities over control in a lucrative trade in cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin and other illicit drugs. Most of the drugs are shipped to the United States.
The shooting in the political, cultural, and media capital of Mexico raised troubling questions about Calderón's declared war on traffickers, which has included troop deployments to several states and cities where violence has since spiraled. Newspaper editorials yesterday accused the president of being unprepared for the backlash.
Jorge Chabat , an author and drug trade specialist in Mexico City , said the public probably would continue to back Calderón's efforts against the traffickers despite the recent setbacks.
"It could be argued that Calderón's offensive has made the violence worse, and that he was not fully prepared for the escalation of violence that followed," Chabat said. "But the only other alternative was to do nothing. Or to make a deal with the drug traffickers. And that just isn't possible in a democratic state under the rule of law."
Police said they had few leads in the shooting of José Nemesio Lugo Félix, who had been appointed just weeks ago to head a drug intelligence unit in the attorney general's office. Lugo Félix was killed in a rush-hour ambush Monday near his office.
"We are witnessing a head-on, unprecedented struggle in the history of our country against organized crime," said Jorge Tirana, a leader of the conservative National Action Party in Mexico City's Legislative Assembly. "We believe that Mexico City has become one of the most dangerous hot spots in the country and that [the authorities] have not acted appropriately."
Leaders of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in Mexico City and surrounding Mexico state joined the call for troops.
Until recently, widespread drug violence mostly had been a provincial phenomenon centered in Mexico's border and port cities. |
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