By Stephen C. Webster
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Mexicans protest military's drug war tactics in Ciudad Juarez. (AFP) |
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Over a thousand people took to the streets of Ciudad Juarez on
Sunday to protest the city's record-setting crime wave, which civil
rights groups say is made worse by the presence of some 6,000 Mexican
soldiers.
"The army's presence is anti-constitutional and
violates citizens' rights. That's why we're asking them to withdraw,"
National Front Against Repression leader Javier Contreras bellowed at
some 1,300 people taking part in the "March of Anger" in the center of
the city.
Across the border from the US city of El Paso, Texas,
Ciudad Juarez is a battleground for rival drug cartels seeking control
of lucrative drug smuggling routes into the United States.
Among
the cartels many sources of profit, illegal sales of cannabis account
for the majority of their funds at roughly 60 percent, according to the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
While debate over how best
to fight the increasingly powerful criminal groups continues to wage
within the U.S., many Mexican officials have arrived to the conclusion
that legalizing cannabis -- essentially taking control of the cartel's
most lucrative income source -- would be an effective opening volley.
However, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda argued during
a February interview with CNN host Christiane Amanpour, it would do the
nation little good to legalize cannabis without similar action in the
U.S.
"We can't do everything overnight, and we can’t do it in Mexico if the U.S. doesn’t do it at the same time," he said.
Former Mexican Presidents Vicente Fox and Ernesto Zedillo, along with Mexico's U.S. ambassador Arturo Sarukhan
and the former presidents of Colombia and Brazil, have all called for
at least a debate of legalization or decriminalization of marijuana as
a way to curb escalating drug war violence.
Despite 6,000 troops
sent in to reinforce local police in fighting crime, last year 2,660
people were murdered in the city, making it the murder capital of
Mexico.
When 15 innocent youths were gunned down at a party on
January 31, civil rights groups staged a demonstration to vent the
local population's anger at the seemingly endless bloodshed.
The
National Front and other civil right groups maintain innocent civilians
are sometimes harassed or tortured by law enforcement officials in
their zealous crackdown on organized crime.
"You can't fight violence with more violence and breaking the laws," Contreras said, speaking to the protesters.
President
Felipe Calderon visited Ciudad Juarez last week and apologized to the
bereaving families of the young party goers for initially blaming last
month's massacre on gang warfare.
The president admitted that his
three-year crackdown on crime with more than 50,000 troops spread
across the country "is not enough," and vowed to redesign a new
strategy against crime and violence with community cooperation.
Drug-related crime has left more than 15,000 dead in the past three years in Mexico.
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