Violence continues hurting Mexico

Earlier this week, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe visited his Mexican counterpart- Felipe Calderon- and praised the country’s anti-violence policy. “One is very happy to see efforts like those of President Calderon,” said Uribe who reportedly predicted that Mexico would eventually win its battle against drug gangs.

Uribe’s remarks may have been well-intentioned though the setbacks appear to outnumber the gains. On Monday alone, for instance, seven people were killed in the border city of Ciudad Juarez including a mutilated corpse left at a police station. A pair of physically disabled officers who served on a special police unit were shot and killed in Chihuahua. The rampant violence has scared off tourists and hurt the country’s finances.

According to the National Post roughly 4000 people have been murdered over the past year; a figure that is “four times' higher than the casualty rate in Iraq among Americans.”

Is it any wonder that Mexico’s private security industry is undergoing a boom?

Sources- The Latin Americanist, IHT, Los Angles Times, AP, Reuters, Voice of America, BBC News