Mexicans pour out emotions at national town hall: The Dialog for Peace

Mexicans from all regions of the country and all walks of life gathered today at a national forum on how best to deal with the endless cycle of drug violence which is racking the nation. The so-called Dialog for Peace was held in Mexico City’s historic Chapultepec Castle (pictured). President Felipe Calderón, accompanied by his wife, presided over the often emotional gathering, accompanied by various government officials and cabinet members.

Many family members of victims of narcoviolence appeared and delivered statements, often imploring Calderón’s government to change its strategy, or to abandon altogether the offensive against the drug cartels. Some accused the president of having turned Mexico into a police state, and of violating the country’s constitution by using military forces to suppress domestic crime. Calderón denied both charges. One speaker told the president that he owed an apology to Los Zetas, generally regarded as the most violent and brutal of Mexico’s cartels. “That I will never do,” responded Calderon.

Mexican poet and peace activist Javier Sicilia, whose son was murdered in March 2011, accused Calderón of actively fostering the popular belief that vigilante or paramilitary squads – such as Los Matazetas – would assist the government in its ongoing war against the cartels. “There are no paramilitaries in Mexico,” said the president.

The president denied that Mexico has taken on an “authoritarian face” by aggressively going after the cartels. “I, too, favor an integrated approach” to the problem of crime, he said, in reference to the demands of many speakers for more focused attention on economic and social issues which promote drug trafficking.

Earlier this week a group of Mexican attorneys and others submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, asking that Calderón and other Mexican government and military leaders be indicted for acts amounting to war crimes. An initial hearing in that case is scheduled for November 25.

Today's Dialog for Peace began at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m. This was the country's second such national forum this year.

About the International Criminal Court case: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/mexican-intellectuals-will-file-hauge.html; and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/prominent-mexican-professor-leads.html; and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/mexican-government-officially-responds.html.

About Los Matazetas: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/09/mexicos-new-vigilantes-los-matas-zetas.html; and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/los-matazetas-are-just-competing-drug.html; and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/8-matazetas-12-zetas-arrested-in.html.