Mexico

Mexican President rejects US claims that drug violence could force collapse

Article published on the 2009-02-27 Latest update 2009-02-27 15:00 TU

Mexican marines guarding a seized shipment of cocaine
(Photo: Reuters)

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has dismissed claims by the US that Mexico could become a failed state because of ongoing drug-related violence in the Latin American country. He says the US must do more to help stem the flow of weapons across the border and assist with Mexico's economic problems.

"To say that Mexico is a failed state is absolutely false or to say that Mexico lost part of its territory is absolutely false," said Calderon.

In a report last month the US military identified Mexico and Pakistan as countries most at risk of sudden collapse.

“A serious impediment to growth in Latin America remains the power of criminal gangs and drug cartels to corrupt, distort, and damage the region’s potential,” said the report from the US Joint Forces Command.

“An unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of immense proportions to the United States,” said the report from the organisation which supplies services to the US military.

“Two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico,” it added.

Calderon, who took office in December 2006, said that smuggling could not be completely eradicated until the demand for drugs from other countries subsided.

He hopes that by 2012 those involved in the highly lucrative business will be exhausted by pressure from the army and federal police, and the problem can be left for the local police to deal with.

The President, who represents the National Action Party, also called on the US to do more to help Mexico stop the flow of US weapons into the country and said that assistance in the country’s economic problems would help Mexico the most.

"I'm fighting corruption among Mexican authorities and risking everything to clean house, but I think a good cleaning is in order on the other side of the border," said Calderon. “The priority right now is to re-establish some kind of order in the economy," he added.

Over 5,000 people died in Mexico last year in drug-related violence, while the Green Party in the country is campaigning for the restoration of the death penalty for those convicted of murder or kidnapping.

Latin American leaders will meet US President Barack Obama in April during his first visit to the region during the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.