Calderon: US Appetite Drives Drug Trade

Mexican prez again slams Arizona law before joint session
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 20, 2010 12:30 PM CDT
Calderon: US Appetite Drives Drug Trade
Mexican President Felipe Calderon addresses a joint meeting of Congress. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are behind him.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Mexican President Felipe Calderon took his opposition to Arizona's new immigration law to Congress today: "It is a law that not only ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree but also introduced a terrible idea using racial profiling," he told a joint session. Speaking in English, he warned of the risk when "core values we all care about are breached."

Broaching another highly sensitive issue, he urged Congress to restore a ban on assault weapons, saying easy access to them is contributing to drug violence along the border. He also told lawmakers that the US needs to look in the mirror: "At the end of the day, it is high demand for drugs in the United States and elsewhere that drives much of the illicit trade." (More Felipe Calderon stories.)

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