| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico 
Calderon Warns More Mexico Drug Violence To Come
 Robin Emmott - Reuters
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August 25, 2010
| | Calderon said the escalation in bloodshed was a sign the cartels were bent on self-destruction. | |
Mexico City - President Felipe Calderon warned this weeek that bloodshed in his war against drug cartels would likely intensify even as Mexicans grapple with already alarming levels of violence.
More than 28,000 people in Mexico have died in drug violence since Calderon launched his drug fight when he took office in late 2006, and gruesome attacks are on the rise.
Over the weekend, four decapitated, mutilated bodies were hung upside down from a bridge in a popular getaway outside Mexico City. Such attacks are becoming more and more common.
But Calderon, from the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, said the escalation in bloodshed was a sign the cartels were bent on self-destruction.
"I don't rule out that there might be more bouts of the violence we're witnessing and what's more, the victory we are seeking and will gain is unthinkable without more violence," Calderon told Mexican radio. "This is a process of self-destruction for the criminals," he added.
Backed by millions of dollars in U.S. aid, Calderon has sent more than 45,000 troops and thousands of federal police to fight the cartels that are battling over smuggling routes into the United States and Mexico's growing local narcotics market.
Despite taking down several top drug lords and making tens of thousands of arrests, Calderon faces pressure in Mexico as growing insecurity scares off some tourists and hurts local businesses extorted by drug gangs. Some foreign investors have put investment plans in border factories on hold.
Investment is crucial for Latin America's second largest economy as it recovers from its worst recession since 1932.
Calderon compared himself to a doctor who diagnosed cancer. "The cancer didn't start when the doctor arrived and detected it. It comes from way back," he said.
Most Mexicans still support Calderon's drug war, but a jump in civilian deaths and the government's failure to stop violence spreading to cities such as wealthy, industrial Monterrey near the U.S. state of Texas, is prompting calls for a change in strategy.
Drug trade analysts say the army alone cannot defeat the cartels and that Calderon risks serious lawlessness if he does not follow through with reforms to the justice, police and prison systems, where corruption is endemic.
(Editing by Missy Ryan and Jackie Frank)
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