On Thursday, February 19, our nation’s official Mexican Army Day, amidst multistate anti-army protests, President Felipe Calderon not only stood firm in his decision and defended the deployment of over 50,000 soldiers across our nation, but made a public announcement to all Mexicans: The soldiers will not be withdrawn, regardless of protests. We, as a nation, are at war and must stand behind our army’s fight against this common enemy.

“When we’ve recovered the rule of law in areas vulnerable to organized crime, and local authorities are capable of fighting this scourge, then the army will have completed its mission; until then we will continue fighting organized crime, without pause or mercy.”
-President Felipe Calderon

Hundreds of protestors, including women holding children, have taken over the streets restricting acess to national highways, avenues and international bridges. The protestors, carrying rocks, bricks, sticks, molotov cocktails and signs citing abuse, torture, and fear for their lives, demand immediate withdrawl of all troops.

Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared paramilitary wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests.

The cartel is paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens, paper and money to poor families who joined the demonstrations.

President Calderon condemned street protests against his use of the army to fight drug cartels as cowardly acts orchestrated by drug traffickers.

“Those who see ... their criminal structure weakened have tried to provoke the army’s retreat. True to form as cowards, they have even used women and children for their wretched goals,”
-President Felipe Calderon, Monterrey, Mexico

Many citizens are losing faith as two years into Calderon’s iron fisted War on Drugs, cartel violence not only continues, but increases, each day more gruesome than the previous. We must remember, we citizens have allowed this to happen; decades of our silence, conformity, and blindness allowed corrupt officials and traffickers to take control of our nation. What took decades to develope, will not simply fall overnight. We cannot turn back, we have no choice, we must continue to fight for our independence.

“Mexico faces a historic challenge in converting itself into a safe country, a country of true law and order,” he said. “That is why we have started this merciless fight against an enemy who, in the shadow of insecurity, has become a threat to the safety of all Mexicans.”
-President Felipe Calderon