Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jan 2011
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Nicholas Casey

DRUG GANGS ARE FOCUS OF CLINTON'S MEXICO VISIT

MEXICO CITY-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Mexico on
Monday in her second stopover in less than a year, showing growing
bilateral cooperation in the fight against organized crime, as drug
violence cripples some Mexican cities.

Mrs. Clinton's visit also came as a Spanish newspaper released another
set of cables about Mexico obtained by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy
group. The leaked documents highlighted some of the concerns that
American officials have harbored about Mexico's pursuit of
organized-crime groups, including the nation's lack of honest local
police forces.

Mrs. Clinton traveled to Mexico City and the central town of
Guanajuato for meetings with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and
Foreign Minister Patricia Espinoza. The State Department said the
meetings focused on a range of issues, from collaboration against drug
traffickers to immigration, economic strategy and the
environment.

But the battle against organized crime was expected to be the main
topic of discussion.

Under the Obama administration, Mexico's importance in U.S. foreign
relations has grown. More than 34,000 people have died in drug-related
violence in Mexico since 2006, many in cities that border the U.S.
Relations between the two countries have been strained by a raft of
proposed U.S. immigration laws that aim to identify, prosecute and
deport illegal immigrants. And officials are trying to negotiate a
deal to end a costly spat that has restricted Mexican truck drivers in
the U.S.

Andrew Selee, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations at the Woodrow Wilson
Center, said these kinds of high-level encounters are relatively new,
a product of the two countries' closer cooperation than in previous
years. "There are lots of moving pieces now, from intelligence-sharing
to borders and ports," he said.

The WikiLeaks cables show a close working relationship between the
governments on trying to combat Mexico's powerful organized crime.
They also shed light on Washington's frustration with Mexico's
strategy of using the military as the main tool against cartels
instead of creating robust police forces.

The cables, from El Pais, detailed a February 2010 meeting in which
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano pressed Mr. Calderon
on progress in the border town of Ciudad Juarez.

In a response to requests by Mr. Calderon for more assistance, Ms.
Napolitano said the U.S. government could only "help identify the
right organized-crime targets, but that Mexico must move beyond
military deployments and establish a police capacity in Ciudad
Juarez." The city is Mexico's most deadly, the site of roughly 3,100
deaths last year.

In the discussion, Mr. Calderon admitted that the strategy of sending
thousands of soldiers into the city in March 2009-a centerpiece of the
president's national strategy-hadn't worked as planned because "crime
exploded as kids fought each other on the street to control drug
trade." The result led the president to remove patrols from the center
of the city. He also cast doubt on future deployments of the military
in other locations "in fear that they will be corrupted," according to
the cables.

The cables also mention a troubled situation at Mexico's southern
border with Guatemala, another key smuggling point. Mr. Calderon and
Ms. Napolitano agreed that region's jungles made security difficult.
Instead, Mexico has focused on setting up "choke points" to try to
catch traffickers after they have already arrived in the country, the
cables said.

The region is home to a group known as Los Zetas, who authorities said
killed a group of 72 immigrants, including many Central Americans,
headed to the U.S. last year. 
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