Associated Press

May 12, 2009

Fox encouraged about US cooperation in drug warBy KATE BRUMBACK – 1 day ago

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Tuesday he is encouraged that the Obama administration accepts some U.S. responsibility for drug violence ravaging Mexico, but he is not yet persuaded it will lead to concrete U.S. actions.

“The responsibility is here as well as it is in Mexico, so it’s a joint responsibility,” he said in an interview in suburban Atlanta with The Associated Press. “Finally they have accepted this.”

He said it’s not yet clear whether the U.S. will join Mexico in the fight against the drug cartels, or if “they want to protect the border and they just want to protect U.S. citizens.”

Fox, who was president from 2000-2006, said he was similarly encouraged early in his own administration when former U.S. President George W. Bush enthusiastically promised immigration reform. But he was later disappointed when Bush made repeated excuses about why it wasn’t possible, he said. Fox said he fears the same may happen with the drug war if the U.S. doesn’t make a real commitment.

“As long as this nation, and I mean the United States, does not reduce or eliminate drug consumption, Mexico will have problems,” he said.

After a trip to Mexico in April, President Barack Obama said strengthening border patrols and cooperation between U.S. and Mexican officials would help make cross-border crime a manageable problem.

Obama also named former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as the U.S. drug czar. Kerlikowske has said he will focus on reducing demand for illicit drugs — a contrast with the Bush administration’s focus on intercepting drugs as they cross the border and punishing drug crimes.

Fox said Mexico’s current president, Felipe Calderon, is making a “courageous” effort to cut the drug supply, but he said the U.S. and Mexico must share information and strategies, “and not only send the army or build walls.”…

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