President Obama yesterday vowed to help Mexico combat brutal drug-trade violence ravaging that nation, saying he wants to stem the flow of guns from the United States to south of the border.
“At a time when the Mexican government has so courageously taken on the drug cartels that have plagued both sides of the border, it is absolutely critical that the United States join as a full partner in dealing with this issue,” Obama said during a brief visit to Mexico City.
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The United States — a big market for the Mexican drug trade and supplier of guns to Mexican narco-traffickers — must deal “with the flow of guns and cash south,” said Obama.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Mexico as a result of drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began cracking down on cartels in 2006 — and the State Department has said contract killing and kidnappings by Mexican cartels on US soil are increasing.
Obama-administration officials said the president will push the Senate to ratify a treaty that could slow the sale of guns and ammo from US dealers to people involved in the Mexican narcotics trade.
That treaty, adopted by the Organization of American States in 1997, was signed by President Bill Clinton but never ratified by the Senate.
Calderon welcomed Obama by saying, “We will recognize that in order to grow and prosper, Mexico needs the United States’ investment and the United States of America needs the strength of the Mexican labor force.”
“I know this new era is possible if we work together,” Calderon said.
Obama is set to attend today’s opening of the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, where all eyes will be on how he handles leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a caustic critic of the United States and a bellicose booster of Cuba’s communist regime.
Chavez yesterday said Venezuela will vote against the declaration issued by the summit, in order to protest Cuba’s exclusion from the meeting.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday refused to put an end to rumors that Obama will meet one-on-one with Chavez.
Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the prospect of such a meeting, Gibbs said, “I will check. I don’t know whether that’s in a group meeting or not. I don’t think that’s a one-on-one meeting, no.”