Mexico: Drug cartel blamed for police chief killing

Mexican authorities have blamed a “powerful drug cartel” for masterminding the killing last week of the country’s acting federal police chief. Six suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of Edgar Millán Gomez including the suspected assassin.

The recent spate of violence against Mexican law enforcement officials has led to op/ed pieces in papers like the Miami Herald and the Arizona Republic. They all call for something to be done and warn that inaction will have serious consequences for the U.S.:

Mexican president Felipe Calderon has been brave enough to try to wrestle back control of his country from the vicious drug cartels that have been terrorizing border areas and, increasingly, major Mexican cities for years…

It's time for America to show a little courage, too, and not just because the true source of all the violence - drug demand - lies on our side of the border. Apart from the fact that the violence in Mexico makes a mockery of America's own spectacularly unsuccessful "war on drugs," it should go without saying that instability there has repercussions here.

Sources- BBC News, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, MSNBC, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Latin Americanist

Image- PRESS TV (“Mexican officials with President Felipe Calderon at the funeral of Edgar Millan Gomez.”)