President Obama departs shortly on an overseas trip to Indonesia and other destinations, but an explosive international situation closer to home may soon demand his attention.
Escalating violence in Northern Mexico fueled by the region’s seemingly intractable drug wars are being blamed for the weekend murders of a U.S. consulate worker, her husband and another man.
Kidnappings, violence and lawlessness have long scourged Ciudad Juarez, a hardscrabble border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
In January, 15 people, mostly students, were slaughtered at a house party in Ciudad Juarez in an incident authorities are blaming on drug cartels operating on flawed information.
U.S. officials have cleared government workers to pull out of Mexico’s border areas, and Canada issued a travel warning against visiting Ciudad Juarez. The White House said Obama “shares the outrage” over the murder of thousands in the region.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, is asking the Obama administration to send help in the form of predator drones for surveillance and 1,000 National Guard troops.
“How many Americans will have to die before our federal government takes serious action along the Texas-Mexico border?” Perry said in a statement. “For years, they have failed in their vital duty to secure the border, resulting in escalating violence.”
Perry noted that 4,700 homicides were committed since January 2008 in Ciudad Juarez, a city of about 2 million.
Border defense was a high priority during the prior presidential administration, including hiring more border guards and fortifying physical barriers between Mexico and the United States.
President George W. Bush, also a former governor of Texas, maintained close ties with his Mexican counterpart, although at times those relations were strained over border and immigration policy. Both countries also have strong mutual economic interests.
The Obama administration has shown less inclination to focus resources on border issues, and only recently began preliminary discussions on immigration reform. Obama visited Mexico last year.
Janet Napolitano, secretary of homeland security, told MSNBC that Perry’s request is under review.
“We are going to continue to work in any way we can to assist. But also we’ve been working to strengthen our own defenses along our southwest border to guard against any spillover violence,” Napolitano said.
She added, “And, indeed, we have not seen spillover violence onto the U.S. side the way one would predict given what’s going on just across the bridge in Juarez.”
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has his own struggles with the crisis, which is described as a battle between warring cartels for control of Ciudad Juarez.
He has tripled the city’s police force and initiated a military crackdown against the cartels. But so far his efforts have done little to quell the horrific violence — a problem that also carries significant economic implications for Mexico.
Mexican officials have long argued that the U.S., as the primary market for the Mexican drug trade, has an obligation to be a partner in battling the cartels.
Obama on Sunday is scheduled to leave for a trip with stops in Indonesia, Guam and Australia.
