President Felipe Calderon said in an interview published Sunday by the Spanish daily El Pais that Mexico was not a failed state and blamed the United States for the flow of illegal arms into his country.Calderon said he regretted the fact that the matter of referring to Mexico as a failed state appeared in a U.S. government report.
Crime is the most serious problem facing Mexico and a coexistence pact with the criminals is not the solution to quelling the violence besetting the country, Calderon said.
“The political culture in Mexico before forecast that the solution was making an arrangement with the criminals and that would be it ... Then, the agreement was: Look, I don’t see you because it’s a federal matter ... You don’t see me, everyone is happy. I don’t get involved in your business, you don’t get involved in mine ... That has ended,” Calderon said.
The president, however, admitted his fear that the cultural temptation to make a pact or an arrangement with the criminals still prevails in some parts of the country.
Calderon was also asked about the relationship with the United States and the recent resignation of U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual, who questioned in a Wikileaks cable the capability of the Mexican army and whether it could effectively conduct the fight against drug trafficking.
“For me, the relationship with the United States is very important and it’s a very complex relationship and much broader than the issue relating to people (Pascual),” Calderon said, adding that the armed forces and the Federal Police have played an important role in the fight against the drug cartels.
Clashes among rival cartels and between criminals and the security forces have claimed some 35,000 lives in Mexico since December 2006, when the newly inaugurated Calderon militarized the struggle against the drug trade.
Calderon partly blames the United States for Mexico’s internal violence because of the northern country’s demand for drugs and the trafficking of weapons south across the mutual border.
“On the issue of weapons, I won’t give in. On the contrary, (I’ll exert) greater pressure because it’s a powerful issue,” Calderon told El Pais.
With just a year remaining before the next presidential elections, Calderon discussed infrastructure, universal health care coverage and the creation of a solid institution base that resolves the problems of public safety as his priorities before his term comes to a close.
Calderon, who gave no clues as to who the future candidate of the ruling National Action Party, or PAN, would be in the 2012 election, also criticized the opposition for making tax reform more difficult and for harboring nationalist prejudices from putting the brakes on the conversion of the country into an oil power.
“We have a problem due to political and labor restrictions, prejudices. That has prevented Mexico from being the petroleum power that it’s destined to be,” Calderon said.
Source: EFE
Calderon is right.
ReplyDeleteNot yet it isn't... Pero ya mero...
ReplyDeletewow..just wow...blame all his and Mexicos failure on someone else. Where in the whole world have we seen that before...
ReplyDeleteCalderon is right in some points, because lets remember the major inflow of weapons coming into the U.S has to pass thought Mexico, and Mexico having such a corrupt government keeps sixty percent of the weapons @ the expection face which never reach the U.S. furthermore what ever guns do make it to the U.S. find its way back out to Mexico.
ReplyDeleteTell that to the families that moirn daily for their lossed loved ones...somehow I dont think they agree with calderon.
ReplyDeleteMexicans killing Mexicans lets say with Russian or Chinese guns so then it would be Russia or China's responsability . This is pure POLITICS.Calderon is on the right track but the entire country is highly infiltraterd with corruption of narco traffic, Calderon has to deal with the reluctance of many Mexicans,to clean up the country at the expense of easy money.
ReplyDelete"wow..just wow...blame all his and Mexicos failure on someone else. Where in the whole world have we seen that before..."
ReplyDeleteEvery other SOCIALIST regime that has every existed.
"Calderon partly blames the United States for Mexico’s internal violence because of the northern country’s demand for drugs and the trafficking of weapons south across the mutual border." Everyone who keeps saying he keeps blaming everyone else, so your telling me this statement isn't true? Besides he's not putting the entire blame on the U.S. but partly which is true. No demand, No supply= no cartels. And the U.S. always blames Colombia and Mexico over drug consumption in the U.S but I don't hear no one complaining about that right?
ReplyDelete7:45 am clearly does not know the definition of a socialist regime. Mexico is far less "socialist" than the US in that there are less social handouts, programs and government red tape.
ReplyDeleteYou need to get out more to really understand what is coming out of your mouth.
9:22 am - you have hit the nail right on the head. Every government blames someone else for their problems. Hell, even within the US, every government blames the prior government for all their problems. This is nothing new.
But a point that has been missed in the comments and Calderon's remarks is this: yes, the guns are coming from the US. But who is it that is letting them get in? MEXICO!! It is the corrupt border/customs agents in MEXICO that let this stuff in for a nice payoff.
I have lived in Monterrey for 16 years and I love it (or, I DID). But I have been stopped by corrupt cops so many times that you just think of it as a toll. Pay the cop $20 to go away.
Same with customs. Want to bring a fancy new flat-screen through without paying duty? Just slip a few bucks to the customs agent and your carload of goods are in.
So we are responsible for the flow of drugs and illegal aliens into our country and the flow of weapons into Mexico. Well, what are they responsible for other than corruption? Or are we responsible for that also?
ReplyDeleteBring "da boys" back from the Middle East and go fix the neighbor out. No problem. Last time it took almost 2 years?. Might take a little bit longer this time, but "no problem"
ReplyDelete@March 29, 2011 3:25 PM
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked we were still over there and is considered the longest war in American history..MORON!!!
Mexico is not a failed state, but Calderon is definitely a failed president. Sending US troops to back up this pendejo is a terrible idea.
ReplyDeleteanon at March 29, 2011 3:25 PM:
ReplyDeleteI like your "selective use of quotation marks." It makes your comments "much more compelling."