Colombian president says Mexico will win drug war

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe predicted that controversial efforts by his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, to combat the increasingly violent drug war that is racking his nation would be successful. ‘When you live in a country like Colombia that has already faced that intense fight against crime, one is very happy to see efforts like those of President Calderon,’ Uribe told business leaders in Monterrey on Sunday night. Calderon has been criticized for deploying federal troops to the streets to combat violent turf wars between rival drug cartels. The savage battles have left thousands of people dead, some of them decapitated, across northern and western Mexico. The carnage among police is particularly high, leaving many officers fearful or susceptible to corruption. Organized crime has become ‘a profound crisis that is affecting many Latin American countries and particularly Mexico,’ said Nuevo Leon state Gov. Jose Natividad Gonzalez. ‘It’s affecting governability.’ Uribe emphasized Colombia’s own work to slow the flow of drugs and assist U.S. prosecutors, noting that his government had carried out some 900 extradition orders since he took office and has seen crime and kidnappings fall sharply. Colombia is the world’s top producer of cocaine, while Mexico has become a major transit point.