transcript

This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI's THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI's THE WORLD is the program audio.

KATY CLARK: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney-General Eric Holder were in Mexico City today. They made the trip south to discuss the battle against Mexico's drug cartels. Mexico wants the US to do more on its side of the border, especially when it comes to guns. The World's Lorne Matalon reports.

LORNE MATALON: Holder and Napolitano came to Mexico to discuss a variety of security issues. The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution wasn't one of them. But at their first news conference in Mexico, that's what Mexican reporters asked about. Would the US change the law to ban the sale of assault weapons, thousands of which end up in the hands of drug traffickers south of the border? Attorney General Holder's reply was negative.

HOLDER: The Obama Administration respects the Supreme Court decision that has interpreted our 2nd Amendment. We do not believe, however, that that will interfere with our determination in stopping the flow of weapons into this country.

NAPOLITANO: I agree.

MATALON: Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano said there will be increased security at the border to prevent the flow of US weapons into Mexico. And she said she wanted to take advantage of this moment – when there is heightened concern in both nations about drug-related violence – to increase cross-border cooperation. Her Mexican counterpart stayed with that theme. Internal Security Minister Fernando Gomez Mont said weapons smuggling into Mexico is compromising security in both countries. Mexican drug cartels are believed to be active in several US states, including Arizona, which has reported a spike in kidnappings and other crimes attributed to the cartels. Both Mexican and US officials say more meetings will be needed to

better coordinate efforts. But for many Mexicans, the number one issue remains the relative freedom with which assault weapons can be purchased in the US and smuggled into Mexico.

SOLORZANO: If the United States were to end the selling and export of assault weapons into Mexico, the US would not only be helping itself, because we know the cartels are also using these weapons in the United States.

MATALON: That's Mexican investigator Javier Solorzano. He says assault weapons bought in the US are traced to at least 70 percent of the murders committed by Mexico's drug cartels. There were 6200 such killings last year. Solorzano is skeptical that more talk between the two governments will do anything about that.

SOLORZANO: I do not see a move in the US Congress to change the 2nd Amendment, and so I wonder what will really happen with all these high level meetings.

MATALON: What is happening is that US officials keep promising to do more to stop weapons from going south and drugs from flowing north. And Mexican officials keep stressing the point that responsibility for the drug violence is shared by the two countries. Here's how President Felipe Calderon put it in a BBC interview last week.

CALDERON: It is impossible to pass tons of drugs or cocaine to the US without some grade of complicity of some American authorities. There is traffic in Mexico because there is corruption in Mexico, and that is true. But with the same argument, if there is traffic in the United States it's because there is some corruption in the United States.

MATALON: Calderon will have a chance to discuss that further with President Obama, when the two leaders meet in Mexico later this month. For The World, I'm Lorne Matalon in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Copyright ©2008 PRI's THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI's THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World's Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.