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Guatemala to put army on Mexico border in drug war
07 Jun 2008 19:16:13 GMT
 Source: Reuters
GUATEMALA CITY, June 7 (Reuters) - Guatemala plans to send hundreds of troops, elite presidential guards and anti-drug police to its border with Mexico to stem growing drug violence, the government said on Saturday.

"The unit should be ready within about 90 days. We are talking about 500 troops" and members of the presidential guard, Interior Ministry spokesman Ricardo Gatica said.

Gatica declined to say how many counternarcotics police would be sent to the border.

The deployment is part of a $1.4 billion U.S. drug aid plan for Mexico and Central America proposed by President George W. Bush.

The plan needs U.S. congressional approval, but Gatica said Guatemala was likely to go ahead even if Congress fails to act.

Lawmakers in Washington have held up the so-called Merida Initiative with calls to attach conditions on how and where the aid -- which includes helicopters and encrypted communication devices to hunt down drug cartels -- is used.

Guatemala, a key transit point for South American cocaine into Mexico and the United States, is seeing growing drug violence between gangs vying for control of lucrative smuggling routes into Mexico. (Reporting by Herbert Hernandez; Editing by Xavier Briand)


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