Mexico Wants US Ties to Focus on Economy, Education, Not Drugs Dave Graham - Reuters
go to original March 5, 2013

MEXICO CITY - Mexico must give greater priority to economic cooperation and education in relations with the United States rather than allowing the fight against organized crime to take center stage, a senior Mexican official said on Monday.

Mexico has spent the past six years locked in a bloody fight with powerful drug cartels whose killings, kidnappings and extortion have marred the country's image, particularly in the United States, where it ships nearly 80 percent of its exports.

President Enrique Pena Nieto is keen to rewrite the script, focusing his efforts on the economy, which has grown at a faster pace than the United States' in the last three years.

Pena Nieto's conservative predecessor, Felipe Calderon, staked his name on crushing the gangs, but by the time he left office at the end of November nearly 70,000 people had died in the violence, and his efforts were widely condemned as a failure.

Sergio Alcocer, Mexico's deputy foreign minister responsible for the United States and Canada, said the focus on tackling the cartels and border security meant many of the benefits of Mexico's ties with the United States had been ignored.

"The U.S. population needs to see Mexico is an important part of daily life," he said in an interview with Reuters.

Read the whole story at Reuters

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