Mexican president asks U.S. Congress to curb weapons flow

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón called on Congress to work to stem the flow of assault weapons into his country as he argued on Thursday for a strong combined effort with the United States to fight drugs and return security to the border.

Speaking for about 50 minutes to a joint session of Congress, Calderón stressed the need for economic cooperation as well as for fighting the increasingly violent drug trade. He spoke in English but shifted to Spanish to again call for an overhaul of immigration issues that bedeviled the countries.

“I am not a president who likes to see Mexicans seeking opportunities abroad,” Calderón said, opening his attack on immigration issues. “We want to provide Mexicans with the opportunity they are looking for, to live in peace and be happy.”

Calderón told lawmakers that “until Mexico can bring more opportunity, there will be migrants and the need to fix a broken immigration system.”

Calderón singled out the law recently passed by Arizona that would give authorities more power to stop people and check their immigration status. Although most agree that some form of federal immigration overhaul is needed, the outlook remains dim this year.

But the Mexican president devoted most of his speech to economics and the need for his country and the U.S. to work together on security issues and fighting drugs.

“Mexico and the United States are stronger together than they are apart,” Calderón said. “A stronger Mexico means a stronger United States.”

Calderón was well received in the first address to Congress by a foreign national leader this year. He did, however, talk to U.S. lawmakers about two subjects that remained politically sensitive: healthcare reform and the bailout of financial institutions during the recession.

Calderón said his country would have universal healthcare by 2012, a sharp contrast with the United States, which went through a grueling healthcare debate that resulted in a more limited health insurance overhaul.
On financial issues, Calderón said that “not one cent from taxpayers went to a single bank in Mexico last year.” By contrast, the $700 billion put aside to bail out major financial institutions remains a controversial political issue in this midterm election year in the United States.

On weapons, Calderón said he was aware of the U.S. Constitution, which allowed ownership of weapons, but he noted that many guns were flowing into Mexico, where they were being used in the drug wars. He warned that if Congress failed to regulate assault weapons, they could be used against American authorities much as they had been against Mexican officials.

“Many of these guns are not going to honest American hands,’ Calderón said.

-- Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal