Contradicciones (Original): Mexican President Calderón gets "fast and furious" with the United States

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Mexican President Calderón gets "fast and furious" with the United States

Felipe Calderón

Mexican President Felipe Calderón had some harsh words for the United States after the deadly terrorist attack on a casino in Monterrey, Mexico, in which dozens of people died. Página 12 reports in Calderón dijo que Estados Unidos también tiene responsabilidad en el ataque al casino de Monterrey 26.08.2011:

El presidente mexicano consideró que el hecho en el que murieron al menos 60 personas fue "el más grave atentado contra la población civil inocente que haya visto el país en mucho tiempo" y anunció un refuerzo de la seguridad con fuerzas federales. Por el ataque que habría sido cometido por carteles de drogas, responsabilizó, además, a su vecino del norte, "el mayor consumidor de drogas del mundo y a la vez el mayor vendedor de armas" para los narcotraficantes.

"Parte de la tragedia que vivimos los mexicanos tiene que ver con el hecho de que estamos al lado del mayor consumidor de drogas del mundo y a la vez del mayor vendedor de armas en el mundo que paga miles y miles de millones de dólares en el mundo a los criminales para proveerlos de estupefacientes", reclamó Felipe Calderón, durante una de sus primeras apariciones tras el atentado.

Asimismo, pidió a la sociedad, al Congreso y al gobierno de los Estados Unidos "que reflexionen acerca de la tragedia" que viven México y muchos países latinoamericanos por el "consumo insaciable" de drogas en ese país.

[The Mexican President considered that the incident in which at least 60 people died was "the worst attack against the civil population that has been seen in the country in a long time" and announced a reinforcement of security with federal forces. For the attacked, which was alleged committed by drug cartels, he also blamed his neighbor to the north, "the biggest consumer of drugs in the world and at the same time the biggest arms dealer" for the drug traffickers.

"Part of the tragedy that we Mexicans are living has to do with the fact that we are next door to the biggest consumer of drugs in the world and at the same time the biggest arms dealer in the world that pays millions and millions and millions of dollars in the world to criminals to provide them drugs," accused Felipe Calderón during one of his first appearances after the attack.

At the same time, he asked society, the Congress and the government of the United States "to reflect on the tragedy" through which Mexico and many Latin American countries are living because of the "insatiable consumption" of drugs in that country.

I'm guessing most Americans don't much care what the President of Mexico is saying about this or anything else. Maybe we all should be paying a bit more attention.

The Los Angeles Times has a decent version of this story: Calderon calls on U.S. society to curb its drug use 08/26/2011.

There was a revelation recently of an ugly incident in US-Mexican relations involving a US sting operation called Operation Fast and Furious that involved just what Calderón references, US arms trafficking to Mexican drug cartels:

Bill Conroy, ATF's Fast and Furious Seems Colored With Shades of Iran/Contra Scandal Narco News 07/10/2011:

Fast and Furious actually [allowed] some 2,000 or more firearms illegally purchased in the U.S. to "walk" (or be smuggled under ATF's watch) across the border in a supposed effort by the federal law enforcement agency to target the kingpins behind Mexico’s narco-gun-running enterprises, ATF whistleblowers contend.

Two of the guns linked to the Fast and Furious operation allegedly were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, who was shot to death by Mexican border marauders in Arizona late last year.

Richard Serrano, U.S. Embassy in Mexico not told of ATF guns sting Los Angeles Times 07/26/2011:

Ultimately, ATF lost track of an estimated 1,700 weapons that were part of the so-called Fast and Furious operation, which began in November 2009.

Nearly 200 such guns were later recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. And two AK-47s from Fast and Furious were recovered in December at the scene of the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona. [my emphasis]