Obama voices support for Mexico's drugsbattle

US President Barack Obama has stressed
Washington's support for Mexico's ongoing
battle against drug cartels.
A leader of Mexico's powerful Gulf cartel
was shot dead on Friday by security forces
in a town near the US border.
Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, known as "Tony
Tormenta", was killed in Matamoros, across
the border from Brownsville in Texas.
Obama said the US backed Mexico's efforts
to end the cartels' "impunity".

"The president offered his condolences to
President Calderon on the death of Mexican
officials involved in the operation," said a
White House statement.

Residents in Matamoros spoke of a shoot-
out lasting for several hours.
Cardenas was the brother of former Gulf
cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, who was
extradited to the US in 2007.
Three suspected gunmen and two marines
were also killed in the gun battle, according
to federal security spokesman Alejandro
Poire. A local journalist died in the
crossfire, Mexican media reported.

Banners
The day after the shoot-out, gunmen
blocked roads in Reynosa, a Gulf cartel
stronghold near the US border, and strung
up threatening banners.
Meanwhile the Zetas gang, rivals of the Gulf
cartel, hung signs between trees and over
bridges in Reynosa and in cities across
northeastern Tamaulipas state, mocking
Cardenas' death.

Alleged Gulf cartel members

Alleged Gulf cartel members lined up for
the press by the Mexican navy in
September this year
"Once again, the Gulf traitors' destiny is
evident ... there's no place for them, not
even in hell," read one banner that was
signed by the Zetas, reported Reuters news
agency.

Reward

Cardenas, 48, had been indicted in the US
on drugs charges, and the US Drug
Enforcement Administration was offering a
reward of up to $5m for his arrest.
He was accused of smuggling tonnes of
drugs across the US/Mexico border over the
past decade.
Friday's two-hour shoot-out involved 150
Mexican marines, three helicopters and 17
military vehicles.
Local residents were trapped in shops and
schools for extended periods and
communicated using social networking
websites.
"Shelter, everyone! Don't leave your houses
please. Pass the word," one resident
posted on Twitter.
Bridges across the international border into
Texas were closed briefly, as the military
used firearms and grenades to tackle
suspected cartel members.
Lucrative routes
The Mexican police and army are struggling
to control armed cartels in a number of
areas of the country.
Several groups are trying to control
lucrative drug smuggling routes into the
US.
More than 28,000 people have died in the
drugs war since Mexican President Felipe
Calderon ordered the army into the fight in
2006.

The policy has had some successes, but
that has not led to a decline in the number
of killings, or the level of kidnappings,
extortion and human trafficking that the
gangs also engage in.

Source: BBC