Mexican poet's peace caravan arrives in Juarez

[cory777]

Source: Associated Press

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – A Mexican poet who has turned his grief over a murdered son into a crusade for peace ended his weeklong "consolation caravan" Friday, demanding the government shift its armed offensive against drug trafficking into an aggressive pursuit of the cartels' assets.

Javier Sicilia, who started the caravan from outside Mexico City last Saturday, had amassed about 1,500 followers, including others who had lost innocent family members and friends to drug violence, by the time he reached Ciudad Juarez, the country's most violent city.

In this city, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, about 20 victims' relatives gave speeches attacking police for not doing their job.

About 500 people, including Sicilia, signed a pact calling on the government to remove all military forces and to better enforce asset forfeiture laws in order to weaken drug cartels by blocking money laundering activities among other things.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110611/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico_peace_caravan

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[annm4peace]

1. thanks for posting

[pampango]

2. BBC: Mexico anti-drug convoy crosses border to accuse US

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13740588


Marchers carried signs saying "we are tired of your war"
and "we want peace"

A "peace caravan" which has spent a week travelling through Mexico to protest against drugs-related violence has crossed the border in the US. Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, who led the convoy, said the US bore a "grave responsibility" for failing to tackle the drugs crisis.

He told supporters in El Paso, Texas that US citizens who used drugs were also partly to blame for the violence. Mexico's drugs gangs are battling for control of the lucrative US market.

He repeated his call that the US should end its Merida Initiative, which trains and supports the Mexican army in its war against drug traffickers. "The US has a grave responsibility in all this, when its citizens remain silent, they are imposing war on us," said Mr Sicilia.

He called on people in the US to put more pressure on officials to end the violence, but added that individuals also had a role to play in reducing the demand for narcotics. "Americans have to realise that behind every puff of pot, every line of coke there is death, there are shattered families."