MEXICO: Security minister sees no quick victory in drug war as violence is flaring, hurting tourism and some companies

Record ID: 303459

  • Title: MEXICO: Security minister sees no quick victory in drug war as violence is flaring, hurting tourism and some companies
  • Date: 6th May 2010
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MAY 04, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF POLICE HEADQUARTERS MAN WORKING ON COMPUTER COMPUTER SCREEN GENERAL VIEW OF POLICE OFFICE POLICEMAN STANDING IN CORRIDOR STITCHED POLICE LOGO MEXICAN SECURITY MINISTER GENERO GARCIA LUNA BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN SECURITY MINISTER GENERO GARCIA, SAYING: "Investors still have faith in Mexico. A couple of days ago, the American Chamber of Commerce said they would invest more than 2.5 billion dollars in Mexico this year for specific economic sectors in the country. I would first tell them and I've told them, that Mexico is working in a forceful way against crime, what corresponds to me in terms of security. We have established an important long-term scheme for the country, an important platform for investment in the country and to give investors certainty. I would tell them that Mexico has worked hard and continues to work hard in a convincing, institutional, permanent and schematic way to create favorable conditions so that they continue to invest in Mexico." GARCIA LUNA'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN SECURITY MINISTER GENERO GARCIA, SAYING: "Then you have the hitmen, when you remove the leadership structure, they want to take control using extreme violence within the cartel's operation. They begin to generate their own external contacts. If you remember, we seized key Colombians in Mexico who had a direct link to them (Mexican drug cartels) when they operated. Key people. Many intermediate operations between drug cartels and Mexican cartels are common. When they arrive, they are the link with the cartels but in the case of the Zetas they already had their own operation as a cartel." GARCIA LUNA'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN SECURITY MINISTER GENERO GARCIA, SAYING: "The Chapo (Mexico's most wanted man Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman) does not have more control than the Juarez cartel. It's not measurable. It requires a structure formed locally. If you see those arrested, in the last few days, look at their profile. Those responsible for the areas have a background in stealing cars, they have criminal records locally and they coordinate with local criminal structures, supplying drugs and routes. There is a struggle between cartels to dominate those structures and coordinate with local criminals." MORE OF INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN SECURITY MINISTER GENERO GARCIA, SAYING: "The origin of La Familia (drug gang) comes from what is left from people who belonged to the Pacifico cartel and part of the Zetas. That was at the beginning. Afterwards, they formed their own organization and took over local markets. They formed their own structure which is operating today, La Familia, within this criminal structure. Their origin in terms of criminal structure came from the Beltran (Beltran Leyva) structure and part of the Zetas." VARIOUS OF GARCIA LUNA AFTER INTERVIEW WITH REPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVA240JSY45KTK65TZY0021H9NRH
  • Story Text: Mexico's surging drug violence that has killed some 23,000 people could endure until 2014 judging by past anti-crime fights in Italy, Colombia and the United States, the government said on Tuesday (May 04).
    Mexican Security Minister Genero Garcia Luna told the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit in Mexico City that the country could not expect a quick victory in the army-backed drug fight launched by President Felipe Calderon in late 2006, adding it would take between six to eight years to control organized crime in average.
    With strong support from Washington, Calderon has sent more than 70,000 soldiers, elite navy units and federal police across Mexico to fight powerful drug cartels fighting over lucrative smuggling routes into the United States.
    But despite record drug seizures and arrests, violence has escalated to horrifying levels and once quiet manufacturing and colonial tourist towns feel terrorized by daylight shootouts between rival gangs and the army. Some companies are freezing investment along the U.S. border, local business leaders say.
    Garcia Luna said, in his headquarters in the Mexican capital, the government was doing all it could to protect the economy from any drug war impact.
    "Investors still have faith in Mexico. A couple of days ago, the American Chamber of Commerce said they would invest more than 2.5 billion dollars in Mexico this year for specific economic sectors in the country. I would first tell them and I've told them, that Mexico is working in a forceful way against crime, what corresponds to me in terms of security. We have established an important long-term scheme for the country, an important platform for investment in the country and to give investors certainty. I would tell them that Mexico has worked hard and continues to work hard in a convincing, institutional, permanent and schematic way to create favorable conditions so that they continue to invest in Mexico."
    Severed heads and bodies hung from bridges are becoming commonplace from Mexico's Caribbean to its northern border with the United States. A spate of civilian killings, including infants caught up in shootouts between troops and hitmen, has hurt support for Calderon's drug war.
    The killing of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez in March provoked outrage from President Barack Obama, whose administration is providing Mexico with millions of dollars in anti-drug war equipment and police training.
    Garcia Luna explained why they was heightened violence in the country.
    "Then you have the hitmen, when you remove the leadership structure, they want to take control using extreme violence within the cartel's operation. They begin to generate their own external contacts. If you remember, we seized key Colombians in Mexico who had a direct link to them (Mexican drug cartels) when they operated. Key people. Many intermediate operations between drug cartels and Mexican cartels are common. When they arrive, they are the link with the cartels but in the case of the Zetas they already had their own operation as a cartel."
    Garcia Luna added rival cartels were fighting for control of local markets.
    "The origin of La Familia (drug gang) comes from what is left from people who belonged to the Pacifico cartel and part of the Zetas. That was at the beginning. Afterwards, they formed their own organization and took over local markets. They formed their own structure which is operating today, La Familia, within this criminal structure. Their origin in terms of criminal structure came from the Beltran (Beltran Leyva) structure and part of the Zetas."
    He said a decision to switch control of security operations to the federal police and away from the army in Ciudad Juarez was bearing fruit despite a surge in violence in April, with killings spiking to 20 a day in the city across from El Paso, Texas.
    Garcia Luna said a major priority was still the cleaning up of Mexico's notoriously corrupt and poorly-paid police forces that often work with drug gangs. He said he aimed to eliminate Mexico's 2,000 municipal forces that are ill-equipped to deal with heavily armed drug hitmen and create a unified police force based on officers from Mexico's 32 states.
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