US 'Shares Blame' for Mexico Drug War

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted shared responsibility Wednesday for the drug violence convulsing Mexico, saying that traffickers "are motivated by the demand for illegal drugs in the United States and are armed by the transfer of weapons from the United States."

Clinton, on her first diplomatic mission to Latin America, promised more aggressive efforts to stem drug violence south of the border.

She stopped short of pledging to send National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border, as called for by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, but she did announce a new office in Mexico where U.S. and Mexican authorities "will work together side by side to fight the drug traffickers and the violence which they spread."

"We have not made any decision on National Guard troops along the border," she said at a joint news conference with Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, while sidestepping the question of any possible role for U.S. troops inside Mexico.

Asked whether she was satisfied with U.S. actions, Espinosa said she saw progress. "I would like to stress that we are engaged in this really broad cooperation, and American initiative has really meant a quantitative change in our cooperation in terms of drug trafficking and in general against organized crime."

United States' role

Clinton met earlier with President Felipe Calderon.

On U.S.-Mexico anti-drug policy, she said, "We will be guided by what the Mexican government believes is working, what is appropriate."

Earlier, on the flight to Mexico City, Clinton used strong words to accept U.S. responsibility for the drug scourge that has wracked Mexico.

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," she told reporters on the plane. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

She insisted the fight can be won.

"If the criminals and kingpins spreading violence are trying to corrode the foundations of law, order, friendship and trust between us," she said at the news conference, "they will fail."

Agents, helicopters

The White House said Tuesday that it was sending hundreds of additional federal agents to the U.S.-Mexican border to help border states deal with the spillover effects of the violence and to stop the flow of guns and money from the U.S. to Mexico.

Clinton said the administration was working with Congress to more quickly deliver Black Hawk helicopters that are part of $700 million in assistance already approved by Congress under the anti-drug Merida Initiative.

Mexico has expressed concern that the helicopters may not be delivered for years under the current U.S. timetable, at a time when drug crime is at record levels.

"Part of being a good partner is being a good listener," Clinton said. "The Mexican government made clear to the U.S. its urgent need for additional helicopters to take on the drug traffickers, and we are responding."

She also announced a $720 million program for modernizing border crossings to make the legal flow of trade and people more fluid.

Immigration

On the issue of immigration, Clinton said the administration was analyzing the policy it had inherited from the Bush administration and looking at "administrative" ways it could be adjusted, without giving specifics.

She said President Barack Obama "remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform. It is and will be a high priority for him and his presidency."

Asked by a Mexican reporter about the "mistreatment" of Mexican workers in the United States, she said, "We are certainly sensitive to and understanding of the great concern for your co-nationals in the United States."

She added: "We believe there have to be changes made, and we hope to pursue these in the coming months," without going into detail.

Both Clinton and Espinosa expressed opposition to protectionist trade practices in times of economic crisis but did not comment in detail on the U.S. Congress' decision to cancel a pilot program that allowed some Mexican truckers to operate in the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Unsafe areas

Commenting on a U.S. government report that parts of Mexico are ungovernable, Clinton said that she disagreed and noted that the U.S. also faced a crime wave 15 to 20 years ago that created areas of the country where people felt unsafe.

Foreign Minister Espinosa was asked whether there were any areas of Mexico where she would not take Clinton. She replied that there were.

"I would like Secretary Clinton to come very often to Mexico and I would like to take her to many, many very beautiful places that we can share in our country," Espinosa said. "Of course, there are some places where I would not take her, and I believe she would not take me to some places in her country."

To which Clinton replied: "Well said."