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Mexicans to hold mass anti-crime protests
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-30 14:26 Having staked his presidency on improving security, Calderon wasted no time in responding to the rising anger. Last week, he summoned governors and mayors to a national security meeting, drawing up a a 74-point anti-crime plan. It included developing better police recruiting and oversight systems within a year, and coming up with an anti-kidnapping strategy within six months. The Defense Department promised to equip police with more powerful automatic weapons. Mexicans want swift results. At the meeting, Alejandro Marti, the father of the 14-year-old kidnap victim, demanded that Mexico's top law enforcement officers resign if the bloodshed does not subside. "This a cancer that we are going to eradicate," Calderon promised during a televised address Monday. But he urged patience, warning that rooting out drug gangs and bringing security to the streets would not happen by decree. Neither will cleaning up and bolstering Mexico's police. In some northern towns, officers complain of having to share guns, and many have quit in terror after seeing their colleagues killed in front of their homes. |
