Calderon Rejects ‘Absurd’ Reports on Mexico Drug War

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Mexican President Felipe Calderon delivered his strongest defense yet of his government’s fight against drug cartels, alleging some U.S. officials are corrupt and accusing the media of lying.

“To say that Mexico doesn’t have authority over all of its national territory is absolutely false and absurd,” Calderon said today in Mexico City.

Mexico hasn’t lost any territory to traffickers, Calderon said. He criticized the media for mounting a campaign of “lies” against Mexico. His comments come two days after Dennis Blair, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, said Mexico isn’t in charge of parts of the country.

Calderon, 46, came to power in 2006 promising a crackdown on the cartels. He has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to areas where smugglers battle over routes into the U.S. Retaliating for arrests and record drug seizures, gangs beheaded rival smugglers, assassinated police officials and executed entire families.

The drug war is reducing annual gross domestic product by 1 percentage point, according to the government. Narcotics-related deaths more than doubled last year as Calderon’s crackdown disrupted drug operations and increased competition for the best supply routes to the U.S.

“How can you explain a drug market so large in the U.S.-- the largest market in the world -- without the corruption of certain U.S. authorities,” Calderon said.

Death Toll

The U.S., the destination for most of the heroin, cocaine and marijuana smuggled by Mexican gangs, must do more to help, Calderon said today.

“All the leaders and the media in the U.S. should assume their role of responsibility in these problems,” Calderon said. “Magazines are dedicated to attacking and lying about Mexico’s situation.”

He didn’t elaborate on alleged corruption in the U.S. or say which media outlets are lying.

Drug war-related deaths reached a record 6,290 last year and Mexico increasingly blames the U.S. for the carnage, saying the U.S. has done little to stop the flow of arms into Mexico and to curtail demand for drugs at home.

The U.S.’s Blair told a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on March 10 that “the corruptive influence and increasing violence of Mexican drug cartels impedes Mexico City’s ability to govern parts of its territory.”

Mexican Cartels

Mexican Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont said in a statement yesterday that Blair’s comments “are unfortunate and don’t contribute to generating a climate of confidence that is indispensable to win this fight.”

President Barack Obama said that, while he’s concerned about escalating drug violence, there’s no need yet to send U.S. troops to the border, the Dallas Morning News reported.

“I’m not interested in militarizing the border,” Obama said in an interview with 14 regional reporters. “We’re going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense.” Obama said he doesn’t have “a tipping point in mind.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry has called on Washington to send a thousand troops or border agents to the region because Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, has become a focal point of drug violence, the Morning News reported.

At a White House briefing today, spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated the administration’s policy that violence is “not going to be solved in the long term through the militarization of the border.”

‘El Chapo’

Obama “obviously has concern for the news in Mexico” and “is appreciative of the Mexican president’s efforts to take on the drug cartels,” Gibbs said.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman made Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list for the first time this year, underscoring the growing power of the country’s cartels. Guzman, 54, has a net worth of $1 billion, making him the world’s 701st wealthiest person, according to Forbes. He heads a drug cartel based in the western state of Sinaloa.

“It’s unfortunate that a campaign has escalated that seems to be a campaign against Mexico,” Calderon said. “Public opinion and even magazines aren’t only dedicated to attacking and lying about Mexico’s situation, but also to exalting criminals.”

Mexican cartels sell $13.8 billion a year worth of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and amphetamines to U.S. drug users, according to White House figures. Mexico is the corridor for about 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the U.S.

Numerous high-ranking Mexican police officials and prosecutors have been accused of collaborating with traffickers.

Prioritizing Mexico

U.S. officials such as Democratic Representative Nita Lowey of New York and Kentucky Republican Hal Rogers have urged Obama’s administration to make violence in Mexico a priority.

A U.S. military report in January said Mexico risked becoming a failed state because of the drug gangs’ power, and lawmakers said this week that violence fueled by traffickers was a threat to public safety in U.S. cities.

“We’re conveniently hiding our heads in the sands of Cancun,” Rogers said during a March 10 hearing. “I don’t see the U.S. taking this as seriously as we need to take it.”