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April 02, 2012

North American summit: leaders to discuss Mexico's drug war

US President Barack Obama hosted the leaders of Mexico and Canada at the White House on Monday for a North American summit, against a backdrop of the vicious drug war in Mexico and escalating violence along the border.


U.S. President Barack Obama (C), Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R), and Mexican President Felipe Calderon walk to the podium for a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House

Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, and Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, joined Obama to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which seeks to integrate the economies of the three countries.

Mexico's drug war is hurting trade, with the drug cartels fighting for control of routes into the United States and Mexico suffering from the arms from the US flowing south.

Immediately upon taking office in 2006, Calderon launched an attack on drug trafficking cartels. But the violence only increased, with the toll from drug-related violence rising to more than 50,000 people during the past six years.

Another issue expected to be on the agenda during the leaders' private meeting: the controversial $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada that Obama delayed pending further environmental and safety reviews.

The Canadian prime minister expressed "profound disappointment" at the decision and warned that he would look to other markets such as China to sell Canada's oil production.


In the coming months the leaders, who have met regularly at international conferences, are headed down different electoral paths. Obama faces a tough re-election battle. Calderon has served the maximum term as President and will leave office in December.

Harper, who has led Canada since 2006, appears secure in his job, having led his Conservatives from minority status to a majority in Parliament in elections last May. He doesn't have to face voters again for four years This meeting, called the "Three Amigos" summit, comes just two weeks before the broader Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

1 comment:

  1. Remember the Jan. 2005 PANIC due to a rumor that Chinese with a NUKE had crossed the Mexican border and were headed to blow up Boston. The border is STILL wide open ...... so like .... they care about airplanes but NOT about whole cities being NUKED?!
    www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/26/60minutes/main4831806.shtml
    Above is a transcript from March 2nd 2009 (rerun on June 21) 60 MINUTES. In brief, the Government acknowledges that it has no control of the border. TONS of drugs and Millions of ILLEGALS enter this country. TONS of cash and TONS of weapons leave this country. They have no way of knowing how many "TERRORISTS" have crossed (IF there IS such a creature)
    TWO things were of major interest:
    (1) The Department of Homoland STUPIDITY acknowledges they have no control - therefore, HOW are they going to protect YOU from TERRORISTS, if they cannot stop gangbangers, YARD WORKERS, NANNIES, COOKS from strolling across.
    (2) The "head" of the Department of Homoland STUPIDITY (and others) tries to blame your RIGHT to keep and bear ARMS for the weapons going south. The only trouble is ........ they showed and talked of MISSILES, HAND GRENADES, BELT FED MACHINES GUNS. Those are weapons STOLEN FROM THE AMERICAN MILITARY. They are not coming from the SEMI-auto Civilian world! They are direct from your Military's ARMORIES. Not only can your Government NOT PROTECT the borders .... and YOU. The Government CANNOT HANG ON TO IT'S OWN WEAPONS!!!
    OH--- operation "Fast and Furious" ----- your Government is GIVING guns to NARCOTERRORISTS......
    --------------------------- MEANWHILE ----------------- Your government cannot stop THESE terrorists ....... just how SAFE is YOUR FAMILY?!
    Washington Post William Booth May 12, 2010
    CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO — A cross-border drug gang born in the prison cells of Texas has evolved into a sophisticated paramilitary killing machine that U.S. and Mexican officials suspect is responsible for thousands of assassinations here, including the recent ambush and slaying of three people linked to the U.S. consulate.
    The heavily tattooed Barrio Azteca gang members have long operated across the border in El Paso, dealing drugs and stealing cars. But in Ciudad Juarez, the organization now specializes in contract killing for the Juarez drug cartel. According to U.S. law enforcement officers, it may have been involved in as many as half of the 2,660 killings in the city in the past year.
    Officials on both sides of the border have watched as the Aztecas honed their ability to locate targets, stalk them and finally strike in brazen ambushes involving multiple chase cars, coded radio communications, coordinated blocking maneuvers and disciplined firepower by masked gunmen in body armor. Afterward, the assassins vanish, back to safe houses in the Juarez barrios or across the bridge to El Paso
    Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. As of November 28, 2006 that's 21,900 since SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.
    King also reports eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal aliens every day – a total of 2,920 annually.
    While King reports 12 Americans are murdered daily by illegal aliens, he says 13 are killed by drunk illegal alien drivers – for another annual death toll of 4,745. That's 23,725 since Sept. 11, 2001.

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