Obama strongly backs Mexico’s fight against drugs

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – In his first trip to  Latin America as U.S. president, Barack Obama pledged strong  support yesterday for the Mexican government’s fight against  ruthless drug cartels waging turf wars along the border.

Obama, who made his first major foray onto the  international stage in Europe earlier this month, offered  Mexican President Felipe Calderon a partnership in his efforts  to combat drug gangs.

“At a time when the Mexican government has so courageously  taken on the drug cartels that have plagued both sides of the  borders. It is absolutely critical that the United States joins  as a full partner in dealing with this issue,” Obama said.

“Something that President Calderon and myself absolutely    recognize is that you can’t fight this war with just one hand,”  he told reporters.

White House officials have played up the symbolism of  Obama’s visit to Mexico, which is struggling to contain  unprecedented drug gang violence that is spilling over into the  United States.

Obama told CNN’s Spanish-language channel that Calderon,  who has sent tens of thousands of troops and federal police to  fight the drug gangs, was doing “a heroic job.”

Calderon, a dour pro-business conservative and U.S. ally,  says he has personally been threatened by drug gangs, whose  turf battles killed some 6,300 people in Mexico last year.

Obama hopes to improve relations with Mexico and the rest  of Latin America after a deterioration in relations his  advisors blame on former President George W. Bush.

He is set to meet other Latin American leaders at a Summit  of the Americas today in Trinidad and Tobago.

Obama said he will push the Senate to ratify a treaty  designed to reduce the flow of arms and ammunition to drug  cartels in Latin America which supply cocaine and marijuana to  users in the United States.

On Wednesday, 16 people died in a shootout between troops  and suspected drug traffickers in southern Mexico.

Calderon told NBC’s “Today” show that he was “absolutely  not” losing the war on drugs.

The Obama administration is tightening security at the  U.S.-Mexico border to prevent trafficking in guns from the  United States to Mexican cartels and hopes to send Black Hawk  helicopters to bolster Calderon’s effort.

The United States and Mexico also agreed on a new  partnership to fight climate change and promote environmentally  friendly forms of energy production.

Obama said he hoped to fix a dispute with Mexico over a ban  on Mexican trucks on U.S. highways.

The prohibition has led to a trade fight, with Mexico  slapping tariffs on a long list of U.S. exports like fruits and  industrial goods in retaliation.

Obama’s outreach to Mexico has already included a visit by  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who soothed Mexicans by  acknowledging the violence there stemmed partly from Americans’  “insatiable demand” for drugs.