Mexican president says he won’t withdraw army from drug fight despite criticism

Mexico won’t withdraw army from drug fight

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday said he won’t withdraw troops from the embattled border city of Ciudad Juarez despite criticism that the presence of thousands of soldiers has exacerbated violence.

“The violence (in Ciudad Juarez) is not due to the presence of federal forces,” Calderon said at a ceremony honoring the air force. “The presence of the federal forces is due to the violence that was and still is there.”

Calderon has deployed 5,500 soldiers to Ciudad Juarez trying to stop vicious gangs battling for drug-dealing turf and lucrative trafficking routes north, but violent crime has surged. More than 4,000 people have been killed in the city of 1.3 million across from El Paso, Texas, in the last two years.

Calderon said the troops were sent to Ciudad Juarez because crime had overwhelmed local authorities. He said withdrawing them would only worsen the situation.

Calderon launched a crackdown on drug traffickers shortly after taking office in December 2006, deploying more than 45,000 soldiers and federal police to drug hotspots. Across the country, more than 15,000 people have died in drug-related violence since then.