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For Calderon, Cartels Aren't Only Concern
 msnbc.com
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September 02, 2010
| | Mexican President Felipe Calderon has made fighting crime — not just drug trafficking but extortion and police corruption — a top priority. He's seen here attending an anti-crime roundtable dubbed "Dialog for Security" in Mexico City on Friday. (Alexandre Meneghini/AP) | |
Mexican President Felipe Calderon prepared to deliver what's akin to a state of the union speech on Thursday, and ahead of that he released several video clips touting his priorities — yet none refer specifically to his war on drug cartels.
That war is sure to show up in the formal, written report that Mexico's president sends each year to lawmakers, but the videos reflect topics perhaps closer to most Mexicans than the drug trafficking issue so important in the United States.
Economic recovery, security, road infrastructure, hospitals and health insurance are the topics of choice for the video clips posted on the presidential website Wednesday.
'Honest' cops
Security and the drug wars, which have surged in scope and intensity since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels on taking power in December 2006, would be a logical choice to reference in the president's key speech.
Turf wars, battles with security forces and targeted killings have left 28,000 people dead since then, and 2010 has seen a spurt in slayings including shootings in bars and the murders of town mayors and a gubernatorial candidate.
But instead Calderon spends three minutes talking about the importance of "honest" cops. "That's why we're getting stricter in recruiting and hiring only reliable and professional police," he assures Mexicans as video footage of police in action plays behind him.
Polls show that Mexicans support Calderon's war by a large majority, and Calderon has scored some wins — including the Aug. 30 capture of Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez, a leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, and the July 29 killing of Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a senior member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel in northwestern Mexico. |
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