U.S. anti-drug aid proposal could heighten violence in Mexico

After record year of killings, cartels may have violent answer to plan for $500 million in U.S. anti-drug aid

12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, January 2, 2008

By ALFREDO CORCHADO and TIM CONNOLLY / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Mexico recorded its deadliest year yet of drug-related killings in 2007, and the violence is expected to increase if an initial $500 million U.S. aid package to Mexico is approved by Congress in 2008, U.S. and Mexican officials and analysts say.

Drug-related killings surpassed 2,500 in 2007, eclipsing 2006's figure of more than 2,100, according to the Austin-based Stratfor consulting firm.

The killings underscore the timing of the Merida Initiative, an anti-drug agreement forged by Presidents Bush and Felipe Calderón and representing a new strategy of "shared responsibility," U.S. and Mexican officials said in interviews. Much of the aid would be used for helicopters, technology and information sharing.