Reuters AlertNet Lite - Mexico's Calderon vows no backtracking in drug war

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Mexico's Calderon vows no backtracking in drug war

24 May 2007 22:08:21 GMT
Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY, May 24 (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon vowed on Thursday not to abandon his military-led war against violent drug gangs, defying a call from a congressional committee for the withdrawal of troop patrols.

Banging his finger on a lectern during a speech in the northern state of Durango, Calderon said his government would not relent in its fight against drug traffickers.

"We cannot leave the children and the young people of Mexico in the claws of organized crime. Our position is clear: not one step backward in the task of defending Mexico," he said.

"Simply withdrawing, being cowardly and hiding are not the solution," Calderon said.

Calderon, who is approaching six months in office, has sent thousands of troops into drug-trafficking states in an unparalleled clampdown, but they have so far been unable to stop drug-related violence.

About 1,000 people have been killed in drug-related killings this year, many of them victims of gang turf wars battling to control the routes of drugs bound mainly for the United States.

On Wednesday, opposition party members of a congressional committee, which sits when Congress is in recess, pushed through a vote that called on Calderon to send troops back to the barracks and not to use them in the war on drug gangs.

One poll this week showed that half the population believed the drug traffickers were winning the battle with the government.

Last week, Mexico sent federal police reinforcements to a state on the U.S. border after 22 people were killed in the bloodiest gunfight of the offensive against drug gangs. Five of the dead were policemen.

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Last updated:Thu May 24 22:08:57 2007