Three dead in Mexican drug violence02: 52 16/03/2010, Jo Tuckman, drug trafficking, Mexico, news, guardian, United States, world affairs, Guardian Unl

Three dead in Mexican drug violence02: 52 16/03/2010, Jo Tuckman, drug trafficking, Mexico, news, guardian, United States, world affairs, Guardian Unlimited

President Obama "offended" as drug-related violence claims three workers with connections to U.S. consulate

There is growing pressure on the government of Mexico today to show that he has completely lost control of the drug war raging across the country, after it killed three people related to the U.S. consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

A statement from the White House Barack Obama said he was outraged by the killings, which took place in two separate incidents on Saturday afternoon.

A pregnant worker from the consulate, Leslie Enríquez, and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, were murdered in their car after leaving a children's birthday party at the home of a colleague. His seven-month baby was found unharmed in the back seat.

Almost simultaneously, the murderers in a different part of the city killed Jorge Alberto Salcido, the husband of another Mexican consular employee who was leaving the same event. His two sons, aged four and seven years, were recovering from gunshot wounds in hospital.

A spokesman for the army and police, Torres, said both killings occurred after a brief chase involving at least one vehicle with armed men inside. "They were caught in the crossfire," he said. "They were attacked, we do not know why."

Mexico President Felipe Calderón has pledged his "unshakeable commitment to resolve these serious crimes."

The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said the slayings reinforced the need to work with the Mexican government "to stop the influence of trafficking organizations at work in Mexico."

An estimated 19,000 people have died in drug violence since Calderon sent thousands of troops to suppress the other, the cartels' war on gangs three years ago. Very few of the murders have been solved.

Juarez, just across the border from El Paso in Texas, suffered about 2,500 murders last year. The local cartel is trying to fend off the incursion into its territory by the Sinaloa cartel, led by drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

At street level, war involves various local youth bands associated with different cartels, but violence has been increasingly affecting people out of gangs.

President Calderon was scheduled to visit the town tomorrow as part of a unit to respond to the growing anger here in the government's inability to control the killing and give some hope to a community living in terror.

Fury overflowed after initially dismissed 16 victims of a slaughter in the event of a teenager in January as gang members. There is no evidence to suggest they were anything but ordinary school students trying to have a good time at a besieged city.

The killings Saturday were not the first time that U.S. citizens have been caught in the violence, but the links of the victims at the consulate and the timing raises the possibility that the attackers may have been targeted specifically to U.S. officials.

The U.S. State Department has announced that consular workers can evacuate their families across the border.

A police statement of Mexico indicated that the first line of investigation in the killings on Saturday pointed to a street gang called the Aztecs, which is linked to the Juarez cartel. There was no more and the U.S. embassy in Mexico was unavailable for comment. The local press reported today that FBI agents investigating the case Juarez.

It was not immediately clear how the murder would affect U.S. support the Mexican government offensive, which began under President George W Bush, and increased after Obama took office.

Calderon has called Obama "a hero" for taking on the cartels.

Recently, however, there are suggestions that the U.S. authorities between racks are working to promote Calderon to change the emphasis of its strategy to focus military imperative that does not seem to be working.

This has been nothing stronger than himself in Juarez, where the number of soldiers patrolling the city reached 8,000 in 2009. The number was reduced earlier this year in a move described by U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual, as "intelligent." There are currently 5,000 soldiers and 2,600 federal police in the city.

Mexico
Drug trafficking
United States
Jo Tuckman


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