Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

Three people including a pregnant employee of the United States Consulate and husband were gunned down by a suspected drug gang in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico over the weekend.

Lesley Enriquez, 35, and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, 34, were shot as they were driving in a car. Their 7-month old daughter was discovered crying in the back seat; however she was not wounded. The killings occurred in broad daylight as the victims were returning home from a social gathering.

In another incident the husband of a Mexican employee at the Consulate was also killed, officials said, and his two children in the car were wounded. The killings occurred a few minutes apart.

U.S. President Obama was “deeply saddened and outraged” at the events, according to White House officials. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “I have spoken with our Ambassador in Mexico and we are working with the Government of Mexico to do everything necessary to protect our people and to ensure that the perpetrators of these horrendous acts are brought to justice.” Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he was indignant and promised a swift investigation, according to reports.

While Mexican security forces gave no information on the likely motive, reports quoted U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash as saying the three slain people had attended the same social event before the attacks.

However the killings come in the wake of a surge in drug-related violence that has steadily tightened its grip on Mexico, claiming close to 18,000 lives in the in the past three years.

According to reports the latest round of attacks came even as the U.S. was just authorising government employees at six Mexican consulates to send their families out of the region due to the bloodshed.

President Obama further said the U.S. would “continue to work with Mexican President Felipe Calderon… to break the power of the drug trafficking organizations that operate in Mexico and far too often target and kill the innocent.”

Secretary Clinton echoed the concern about Mexican drug cartels, saying the assaults “underscore the imperative of our continued commitment to work closely with the Government of President Calderón to cripple the influence of trafficking organizations at work in Mexico.

She added that this was a responsibility the two countries should jointly shoulder, “particularly in border communities where strong bonds of history, culture, and common interest bind the Mexican and the American people closely together.”