MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the escalation of violence in Mexico
9.3.2010
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure
Charles Tannock, Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Adam Bielan, Ryszard Czarnecki, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Tomasz Piotr Poręba on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0188/2010
B7‑0190/2010
European Parliament resolution on the escalation of violence in Mexico
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Joint Communiqué issued at the VI Mexico-European Union Summit in Prague, Czech Republic on May 14th 2009,
– having regard to the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament ‘Towards an EU-Mexico Strategic Partnership’ (COM(2008)447 final),
– having regard to the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Member States on the one part, and the Mexican United States on the other part (Official Journal , L276/45, 28.10.2000),
– having regard to the Lima Declaration at the V Latin American and Caribbean-European Union Summit in Lima, Peru, 16 May 2008,
– having regard to the Joint Communiqué issued at the IV Mexico-European Union Summit in Lima, Peru, 17 May 2008,
– having regard to its resolution of 24 April 2008 on the V Latin American and Caribbean-European Union Summit in Cityplace Lima,
- having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the security situation has been deteriorating in 2010 with a higher level of violence and more frequent confrontations between drug cartels and local authorities,
B. whereas Mexico is facing another critical year as regards drug-trafficking related violence with a record of 6.019 killings in October 2009 totalling 14.732 since 2006, among law enforcement agents, cartel and gang members linked to organised crime,
C. whereas Mexico is not only a major transit route for drugs to the United States but also one of the largest drugs producers, whereas approximately 90% of the cocaine used in the US passes through Mexico,
D. whereas the consumption of drugs in Mexico has increased by 30% since 2002 and the consumption of cocaine has doubled and whereas the growth in drug consumption has been recorded primarily in children and adolescents,
E. whereas the cartels’ activities involve not just drug trafficking but also kidnapping, smuggling money and weapons and whereas cartels are responsible for the majority of weapons illegally imported into Mexico,
F. whereas cartels such as Sinaloa, Gulf, Juarez and Tijuana are highly developed criminal organizations, which have huge cash resources and are equipped with modern weapons,
G. whereas Felipe Calderon has made the fight against drug cartels and the violence associated with them the top priority of his administration and deployed 40,000 troops to troubled areas and targeted the economic networks built up by drug traffickers and whereas he has been enforcing “national security programs and strategies” which include the creation and application of a “single criminal system” throughout the country,
H. whereas the government’s successes include the capture of several drug trafficking bosses, such as Alfredo Beltran Leyva, alias “El Mochomo”, head of the Sinalao cartel, Vicente Carrillo Leyva, heirs to the Juarez Cartel, the largest weapon seizure in Mexican history in December 2008, the arrest of a number of high-ranking police officers in “Operation Clean-Up” and on 26 May 2009 arrest of ten mayors and one judge under the accusation of collaboration with drug dealers,
I. whereas the Calderon administration has destroyed over 23 000 ha of opium, 38 000 ha of cultivation of marijuana, closed down 50 illegal laboratories producing drugs and arrested 46 331 people associated with the drugs business,
J. whereas a total of 61 journalists have been murdered since 2000 and nine others have gone missing since 2003 in Mexico,
K. whereas transnational organized crime in all its forms has devastating effects on the stability of the nation and the well-being of its population,
L. whereas, in spite of Mexico’s economic development, poverty affects almost 40% of the population,
1. Strongly condemns the recent murders of journalists and all killings related to drug-related violence and calls on the authorities to do everything possible to identify, arrest and prosecute persons responsible for murders;
2. Is extremely concerned by the increase of drug-related violence, in particular in Mexican States near the US border;
3. Condemns the recent murder of Jorge Ochoa Martínez, the editor of the daily El sol de la Costa and the weekly El Oportuno, who was shot dead in Ayutla de los Libres, in the southern state of Guerrero, on 29 January 2010 and calls on the Mexican authorities to initiate a thorough investigation in order to bring those responsible to trial;
4. Calls on the Mexican Government to undertake all necessary measures to combat more aggressively all crimes against the press;
5. Is concerned by the cartels’ intransigence, feeling of impunity and lack of respect for any form of authority;
6. Deplores all cases where the cartel criminals murder without exception - the elderly, women and children - as well as torturing men, raping women and killing senior government representatives and captains of local police units;
7. Calls on the Mexican Government to continue its efforts and to strengthen international cooperation to fight against the drug problem and its related crimes with a view to control, diminish and eliminate the adverse consequences inflicted upon the social and economic development, as well as the security of the country;
8. Calls on the Mexican Government to enforce a more effective purge among the police, who are often in league with traffickers and involved in cases of corruption and embezzlement;
9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Mercosur Parliament and the Government of Mexico.