Mexico on high alert for Obama; Americas summit awaits

Mexico City is on high alert this morning as it awaits the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama, expected here today in his first official visit to Mexico.

Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Mexico lashes out on drug war

The Dallas Morning News spent some time with outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, this week following comments that he made last week in Texas over the United States' responsibility in Mexico's battle against its illegal drug cartels:

Mr. Garza, a second-generation Mexican-American and Brownsville native, arrived in Mexico in 2002 after his friend President Bush appointed him to head one of the largest U.S. embassies in the world. In an interview over steak tacos at a modest restaurant near the U.S. Embassy, Mr. Garza talked about his tenure as ambassador, his future, and the challenges ahead in the land of his grandparents.

Failing to win U.S. congressional approval for comprehensive immigration reform and the debate over a controversial border fence remain concerns, Mr. Garza said.

"You're not really addressing the question of border security if all you are talking about is building walls," he said. "You have to look at comprehensive immigration reform, the Mérida Initiative, trade and, yes, smart barriers."      

Analysts say Mr. Garza's access to the White House helped put Mexico on the radar when U.S. foreign policy was focused on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read the rest of "Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Mexico lashes out on drug war" here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Condoleezza Rice in Mexico to discuss Merida Initiative

The Dallas Morning News reports this morning:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with her Mexican counterpart today amid drug cartel attacks on U.S. facilities, a brazen prison escape along the Mexico-Texas border, and increasing talk in Mexico of legalizing drugs as an alternative to the ongoing battle.

High on the agenda between Dr. Rice and Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa is the Mérida Initiative, a $400 million U.S. aid package signed into law by President Bush in June but hung up in Washington.

Earlier this month, President Felipe Calderón called for expedited release of those resources – mostly helicopters and surveillance planes – and analysts said Dr. Rice is likely to hear a similar message privately during talks today and Thursday in Puerto Vallarta.

The Merida Initiative pledges $400 million worth of funding to the Mexican Government to help the country in its fight against organized crime and powerful drug cartels, but the bill has proved controversial on both sides of the border - see why here.

Read more about the Merida Initiative here and go here for our special report on mexico's drug wars, "Mexico Under Siege."

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

U.N.'s head of anti-drug trafficking warns against legalization

"In the Americas, the biggest threat to public safety comes from drug trafficking and the violence perpetuated by organized crime," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) speaking in Mexico City yesterday.

"Urban violence in the U.S., biker gangs in Canada, violence and kidnapping in Mexico, pandillas and maras in Central America, thugs in the Caribbean, gangs in Brazilian shanty towns, insurgency in Colombia -- in every case there is a connection to drugs," Costa said.

He urged governments not to be tempted to legalize drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, saying: "At this point, we know what some people -- the pro-drug lobby, for example -- would say:  'Legalize drugs and crime will disappear.' In other words, while facing an undeniably tough problem, we are invited to accept it, hide our head in the sand and make it legal. 

"I do not agree, and let me explain why by using an analogy. Human trafficking is another tough crime problem, worldwide -- perhaps second in size, after drug trafficking. Should we legalize modern slavery, given the intrinsic difficulty in dealing with it? Of course not."

Instead, he called for more to be done across the hemisphere to tackle the problem from the demand and supply end, working more towards reducing the cultivation, processing and trafficking of drugs.

He added: "Until the number of cocaine users falls worldwide, the problems caused by narco-trafficking will be displaced (as we are now seeing in West Africa) rather than solved. Therefore, more attention and resources must be devoted to drug prevention and treatment. Demand and supply reduction measures will inevitably contain the trafficking problem and the crimes associated to it."

Mexico is currently in the grip of surging levels of drug-related violence. President Felipe Calderon has sent 40,000 soldiers and 5,000 federal police officers to secure large swaths of the country against its powerful drug cartels. In the nearly two years since Calderon launched a crackdown against drug gangs, more than 4,000 people have died.

Read the full speech by Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), here.

Read more about Mexico's drug war here at our "Mexico Under Siege" page.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Mexico's military during last year's Independence Day celebrations. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times.

Tijuana killings may signal fall of Arellano Felix cartel

The birthplace of one of Mexico's most infamous drug cartels looks more and more like its graveyard. Gunmen and associates of the Arellano Felix cartel, rulers of the city's criminal underworld for two decades, are being massacred by the score, reports Richard Marosi from Tijuana.

Their mangled bodies turn up in garbage-strewn lots, a dozen at a time. Killers cut out their tongues, slice off heads, and leave behind taunting messages. Two barrels of industrial acid left on a sidewalk last week are believed to contain liquefied human remains.

In all, at least 57 suspected organized crime members, a majority of them believed to be part of the Arellano Felix organization, were killed in the last week, including 12 dumped in front of an elementary school Sept. 29 and eight tossed in an industrial yard Thursday.

The carnage may be a sign that the cartel named for the Arellano Felix brothers is fractured and vulnerable to contenders, inside and outside the organization, who are looking to get control of lucrative trafficking routes into the United States, according to law enforcement sources.

Click here for more of the latest gruesome news on Tijuana, and go here for more on Mexico.

Go to our "Mexico Under Siege" page for more reporting on Mexico's drug wars.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: State police officers investigate the scene of a shootout between drug gangs in Tijuana, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 4. Credit: Guillermo Arias / Associated Press

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has few choices in drug war; creates new security plan

Stretched thin in an uphill battle against drug gangs, the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon faces increasingly stark options at a pivotal moment.

A fatal Sept. 15 grenade attack on civilians in western Mexico, coming on top of a steadily rising death toll nationwide, drastically altered the stakes in the nearly 2-year-old crackdown, reports Ken Ellingwood.

Calderon now has little room to pull back without appearing beaten. But the attack, which killed eight people during an Independence Day celebration in Calderon's home state of Michoacan, is testing the public's stomach for the increasingly savage conflict.

"The violence is not going to stop soon. There will be more actions," political analyst Alfonso Zarate warned last week in the daily El Universal newspaper.

"However, neither the government nor the public can turn back."

Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting this morning that Calderon has sent a new security plan to Congress that includes a proposal to set up a department to monitor and tackle corruption among Mexican police. Mexico's corrupt police force is one of the biggest obstacles to effectively tackling the drug lords in the country, and reform is underway.

Click here for more on Mexico and go to our Mexico Under Siege page for more on the drug war in the country.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: A soldier stands guard Sept. 17 over the plaza in Morelia, Mexico, in which explosions two days earlier killed eight people and injured more than 100. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times.

Americans also fall prey to Mexico's drug war

Daniel not come home.

Linda LaPorte stood in the kitchen of her home in Pascoag, R.I., holding her cellphone. Her son's Thai girlfriend was calling from San Diego, speaking a mile a minute in fractured English, reports Evelyn Larrubia.

He said call mom if he not come home.

Linda and her husband, Joseph, had called their son just days earlier to wish him a happy 27th birthday. He'd said nothing about traveling anywhere.

Yet here was his girlfriend saying he'd gone to Mexico on business with a guy named Big Daddy. And he hadn't come back.

"What she was trying to convey to me didn't make sense," Linda recalled.

Dozens of American citizens have been kidnapped and killed in Mexico in the last year. They are a small fraction of the more than 3,000 people, the vast majority of them Mexicans, who have been slain gangland-style. Countless others have been kidnapped for ransom.

Read the rest of the dispatch about the disappearance of Daniel LaPorte here.

Click here for more on Mexico and here for our special report on the drug wars in Mexico, Mexico Under Siege.

— Deborah Bonello

175 Mexican drug trafficking suspects arrested

In what prosecutors said was a significant step in fighting the drug wars raging on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Justice Department said Wednesday that 175 people believed to be connected with one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels were arrested this week in a dozen states.

The arrests Tuesday and Wednesday were part of a 15-month investigation led by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration targeting the drug trafficking organization known as the Gulf Cartel. The group is a key target of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's 21-month offensive against drug mafias, reports Richard B. Schmitt.

Click here to read more about the arrested drug suspects, and here for more on the drug trade across Latin America.

For more on Mexico in general go here, and go to our Mexico Under Siege page for up-to-date coverage of the drug war in Mexico.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Explosions in western Mexican state reportedly kill 8 and injure dozens

Two explosions during Mexican Independence Day celebrations in the western state of Michoacan killed eight people Monday night and injured dozens more, according to local media reports this morning.

Thousands of people were gathered in the center of Morelia, the state capital, when the explosions went off in front of the city's national palace. El Universal is reporting this morning that the explosions were caused by grenades thrown into the crowd during the celebrations. In addition to the deaths, at least 100 people were injured, according to Reforma and El Universal.

Gov. Leonel Godoy, quoted in this Reforma report, said: "Technically, this is a terrorist act. We have no doubt that we're facing a terrorist attempt."

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions, but media reports are making connections between the attacks and the country's organized crime networks, against which President Felipe Calderon is waging a war using the nation's army and police.

Michoacan is Calderon's home state.

Speaking this morning -- Independence Day -- at a ceremony in Mexico City, Calderon called on all Mexicans to condemn the events in Michoacan.

Mexico is not only in the midst of a violent war against its powerful drug lords, but crime and kidnappings are also soaring. Insecurity in the country has led the public to demand action from its government.

Calderon did not pin blame for the blasts on any particular group, but he called for unity in Mexico and said: "We are against all of those who, in defense of their meager interests, are damaging the population."

Click here for our special report on Mexico's drug wars, Mexico Under Siege, and here for more on Mexico.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

edited at 14:42pm Mexico City time. Photo and video added.

Image: Mexico's military march down Avenida Reforma in Mexico City during the country's Independence Weekend celebrations Tuesday, and the day after at least seven people were killed in an explosion in the western state of Michoacan. Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times

Mexico safety chief's tough job: policing the police

Drug-related violence in Mexico is soaring, as are crimes against civilians such as kidnappings. The country's police force is key in helping to bring back stability and a sense of security to the Mexican people. But public confidence in the nation's cops is low (see the video above) -- and for good reason.

Drug money and corruption have long tainted law enforcement in Mexico, reports Ken Ellingwood.

But Mexico's top police official, Genaro Garcia Luna, with President Felipe Calderon's backing and the aid of technology, may succeed in reforming the system, analysts say.