08/04/10 – At the Dialogue for Security conference, president Felipe Calderón stood by his decision to combat organized crime despite criticism regarding the increase of violence during his presidency term. He believes that quitting now would not bring an end to the violence occurring throughout the country; it is mainly territorial disputes among crime groups that lead to the violence. Calderón stated that, “To me, it’s an unacceptable option.”
According to Calderón, the main purpose of combating organized crime is defending the peace and security of Méxican citizens. He would like for the opportunity to not use police forces to take action; however, he feels that “… we are dealing with unscrupulous people that have no sense of life and that are attacking Méxicans.” He also stated that he does not agree with critics that claim that the fight against crime has failed and that all hope is lost.
Calderón gave statistics regarding the 28,000 people who have been killed in the last three and a half years. According to him, the causes of deaths are known in 70% of the cases; 90% of the people killed in those known cases have a connection to organized crime. About 6% of the remaining 10% are police enforcement agents that become casualties.
Sources:
Pérez, Jorge Ramos. “Inaceptable, parar lucha antinarco: FCH.” El Universal. 04 August, 2010.
