Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Mexico, says U.S. to blame for drug wars

Soliders patrol the streets of Juarez, where violence due to drug cartels' control has sparked recent debate and brought international attention to the problem of drug trafficking.

By Richard Sisk

Daily News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton brought mea culpas to Mexico Wendesday for the guns and money flowing south from the U.S. that have fueled the bloody drug wars between the cartels and the Mexican army.
"It's not only guns, it's night-vision goggles, it's body armor," Clinton said enroute to Mexico City in her third foreign trip as Secretary of State.
"These criminals are outgunning law enforcement officials," Clinton said of the street warfare in towns near the border that have claimed more than 6,000 lives in the past year.
"And since we know that the vast majority, 90% of that [weaponry] comes from our country, we're going to try to stop it from getting there in the first place," Clinton said.
Another factor fueling the bloody Mexican turf battles, Clinton said, is America's "insatiable" demand for illegal drugs.
Clinton's arrival in Mexico City for meetings with President Felipe Calderon competed for front-page space with the arrest of a major drug thug, Hector Huerta Rios, known as "La Burra [Female Donkey]."
Huerta Rios was said to be the drug kingpin in Monterrey, where Clinton will visit Thursday.
In remarks prior to Clinton's arrival, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa hailed the "constructive attitude" of the new administration of President Obama, which was seen as a dig at the administration of former President George W. Bush.
In addition to sitdowns with Calderon and Espinosa, Clinton will also be meeting with Mexico's top military and law enforcement officials in the drug war to coordinate on the U.S. administration's plan to send more immigration and drug to the border area.