Pubdate: Thu, 16 Apr 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A12
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Sheryl Gay Stolberg
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/drug+cartels
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama

OBAMA TAKES AIM AT FINANCES OF THREE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS

WASHINGTON - The White House said Wednesday that President Obama was 
imposing financial penalties on members of three Mexican drug 
cartels, designating the cartels as "kingpins" on the eve of a 
presidential visit to Mexico, where the issue of drug violence will 
be high on the agenda.

Mr. Obama leaves on Thursday for Mexico City; he will be the first 
American president to visit that nation's capital since President 
Bill Clinton traveled there 12 years ago. In the weeks leading up to 
the trip, the Obama administration has said it intends to work 
closely with Mexico to stem a rising tide of drug violence that is 
fueled, in part, by cross-border weapons trafficking.

Mr. Obama has the right to identify drug traffickers and their 
related businesses for penalties under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin 
Designation Act, a 1999 law that has been used to focus on several 
dozen foreign operations worldwide, including some in Mexico. On 
Wednesday, the White House identified three more Mexican drug 
operations that will carry the kingpin designation: Sinaloa Cartel, 
Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana.

The act allows the Treasury Department to freeze any assets of the 
cartels found in United States jurisdictions and to prosecute 
Americans who help the cartels handle their money.

Drug violence has become so prevalent in Mexico that some experts 
warn that the country is on the verge of becoming a failed state. In 
an interview with ABC News that was being shown Wednesday evening, 
Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, dismissed that assertion. 
"Absolutely not," he said, according to a transcript provided by the 
network. "Mexico is not a failed state." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake