Mexico's President Says Drug Violence Has Been Contained, Isolated Santiago Perez - WSJ.com
go to original February 19, 2014

MEXICO CITY - The wave of drug-related violence that swept through Mexico in recent years has been contained and isolated, and further improvement could allow the government to pull back the armed forces from the fray, President Enrique Peña Nieto said this week.

"I can't say that this would happen over the short term, based on the decline of crime rates, but what's desirable over the medium term is that at some point the army goes back to the barracks, and that the Mexican State could have civilian authorities that are much more reliable," the Mexican leader said in an interview at the presidential compound in Mexico City.

Since taking office in late 2012, Mr. Peña Nieto shifted the focus of his government to a package of ambitious economic reforms and away from the fight against organized crime that dominated the six-year term of his predecessor Felipe Calderon, when some 60,000 people died in drug-related killing.

There has been good news. The overall murder rate in Mexico fell about 16% last year compared with the previous year. But kidnapping and extortions rose. And in the western state of Michoacan, where the army had pulled back somewhat, the brutal Knights Templar cartel gained strength, Mr. Peña Nieto was forced to call an unprecedented deployment of federal forces.

"There has been a decline in homicides and theft, but sadly, we have to acknowledge that extortion and kidnapping grew in some states," Mr. Peña Nieto said. This is primarily the result of the government's effort to dismantle some drug gangs, forcing kingpins to resort to other illegal activities, he added.

Mr. Peña Nieto said the federal government and local authorities have focused on specific areas or regions that were deeply affected by crime and lawlessness, improving security in cities such as Monterrey or Ciudad Juárez, which "just a few months ago were in critical condition."

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