Julie Mason
Washington Examiner
3/17/2010
President Obama departs shortly on an overseas trip to Indonesia and other destinations, but an explosive international situation closer to home may soon demand his attention.
Escalating violence in Northern Mexico fueled by the region’s seemingly intractable drug wars are being blamed for the weekend murders of a U.S. consulate worker, her husband and another man.
Kidnappings, violence and lawlessness have long scourged Ciudad Juarez, a hardscrabble border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
In January, 15 people, mostly students, were slaughtered at a house party in Ciudad Juarez in an incident authorities are blaming on drug cartels operating on flawed information.
U.S. officials have cleared government workers to pull out of Mexico’s border areas, and Canada issued a travel warning against visiting Ciudad Juarez. The White House said Obama “shares the outrage” over the murder of thousands in the region.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, is asking the Obama administration to send help in the form of predator drones for surveillance and 1,000 National Guard troops.
“How many Americans will have to die before our federal government takes serious action along the Texas-Mexico border?” Perry said in a statement. “For years, they have failed in their vital duty to secure the border, resulting in escalating violence.”
Perry noted that 4,700 homicides were committed since January 2008 in Ciudad Juarez, a city of about 2 million.
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