{news} "Three Mexican Police Chiefs Seek Political Asylum in US"

[Clifford Thornton]

Wow. The Al Capone's are chasing the Eliot Ness's right out of the country.

"Three Mexican Police Chiefs Seek Political Asylum in  US"
Dow Jones Newswires (05/14/08)

Three Mexican police chiefs requested political asylum in the United States
to escape drug-related violence in Mexico. The three police officials are
undergoing interviews and their cases are being reviewed for possible asylum,
according to a Customs and Border Protection official. Drug-related violence in
Mexico killed over 2,500 people in 2007 and law enforcement officials fear
for  their lives. A top-ranking official was recently killed by assassins, who
shot  him more than 50 times. The drug wars have spilled over to the United
States,  with wounded people often crossing the border and ammunition being
imported  through the United States.

So what does the US government do?  Send in more prohibitionists:

All information provided in this e-mail is also available on the Committee's web 
site at 
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Vcerga/Application%20Data/Microsoft/Signatures/www.HCFA.house.gov>www.HCFA.house.gov<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Vcerga/Application%20Data/Microsoft/Signatures/www.HCFA.house.gov%3Ewww.HCFA.house.gov> 

May 13, 2008

Berman Introduces Authorizing Legislation for 
the Merida Initiative, a Boost to U.S. 
Assistance for Mexico's Counter-Narcotics Efforts
>
>
>Washington, DC - Chairman Howard L. Berman 
>(D-CA) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee 
>today introduced legislation to authorize the 
>Merida Initiative, a proposed U.S. 
>counter-narcotics assistance package for Mexico 
>to help combat the flow of illegal drugs and the 
>violence that the drug trade has spawned along the U.S.-Mexico border.
>
>"The illegal drug trade is giving rise to ever 
>more violence, and not a week goes by without 
>news of another sickeningly violent incident 
>related to drug traffickers in Mexico or Central 
>America," Berman noted.  "Drug cartels have been 
>blamed for 6000 deaths in two and a half years 
>of this battle in Mexico alone.  Last month a 
>drug-related shootout claimed 15 lives just 
>across the border from San Diego, shocking many 
>of us in Southern California.  Last week, the 
>chief of Mexico's federal police, the public 
>face of his country's counter-narcotics effort, 
>was shot nine times.  And over the weekend, the 
>deputy police chief of Ciudad Juarez on the 
>U.S.-Mexico border was gunned down.
>
>"The United States needs to step up and address 
>this explosion of violence, as well as the 
>illegal southward flow of arms and our nation's 
>expanding domestic demand for drugs, which fuels 
>the whole terrible cycle. Congress should give 
>its full support to the proposal hammered out in 
>Merida last year with the Mexican government and 
>our friends in Central America to confront this scourge together."
>
>The legislation (H.R. 6028) authorizes $1.6 
>billion over three years for counter-narcotics 
>work for law enforcement modernization, fighting 
>organized crime, institution-building and 
>support for the rule of law.  Responding to a 
>significant request from Mexican authorities, 
>the bill authorizes almost $74 million to 
>bolster U.S. efforts in stemming the illegal 
>flow of arms going south by significantly expanding ATF's Project Gunrunner.
>
>The legislation contains significant human 
>rights safeguards, including a stringent 
>requirement to investigate allegations of human 
>rights violations committed by anyone receiving 
>assistance under the Merida Initiative.   It 
>prohibits cash payments of any kind, 
>concentrating resources instead on equipment and 
>training.  And it creates a position for a 
>coordinator to harmonize both responsibility and 
>accountability for the Merida Initiative's wide-ranging programs.
>
>"Perhaps most importantly, this legislation 
>recognizes that the spread of illicit drugs 
>through this region and into the United States 
>and the violence that accompanies it cannot be 
>halted without a comprehensive interdiction and 
>security strategy planned and executed jointly 
>with our southern neighbors," Berman said.

Efficacy
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Hartford, CT 06143
efficacy at msn.com<mailto:efficacy at msn.com>
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"THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"

Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit
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