AC: "...a war that is
essentially being fought by the Mexicans for
America."
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Length: 6:47
LARGE (78.5 MB)
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Michael reports on the Mexican drug cartel known
as Los Zetas in a prepared piece from VeraCruz
followed by a live Q&A from Mexico City. (Yes,
he does say "the Los Zetas" during the location
shots, but by the time he did the VO had switched
to "the Zetas." Bear with him; a few more trips
down there and he'll be habla'ing the espanol
better!)
ERICA
HILL: President Obama travels to Mexico this Sunday
for a summit with North American leaders. And the
trip comes with some controversy.
Today Senator Patrick Leahy announced Congress is
withholding about $100 million in aid intended to
help battle Mexico's drug cartel. Why? The Vermont
Democrat wants to see more evidence that the Mexican
government is cracking down on corrupt and abusive
police and soldiers.
The drug war next door has left thousands dead,
kidnapped, and as we know, the enemy is well-armed
and it is very well-funded. But out of all the
ruthless killers, there is one group in particular
that stands out. Michael Ware reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The
dead always tell a story. And here in Mexico that
story is the war raging on America's doorstep. Being
fought for the right to supply America's demand for
illegal drugs, a war becoming more violent, more
ruthless, mostly because of one group.
(on camera) To even begin to understand that
violence, come with me, here in a barrio in the
southern Mexican city of Vera Cruz. Imagine, if you
will, a band of Special Forces Green Beret soldier go
rogue and offer their services and their firepower to
the drug cartels.
Well, that's precisely what's happened in Mexico in
the 1990s. Commandos from the Mexican army deserted
and set up their own cartel, known as the Los Zetas.
The Los Zetas, a group that the U.S. government now
says is the most technologically advanced,
sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in
Mexico.
And this is an example of some of their most recent
work. Until not so long ago, this was the home to a
local police commander, promoted just two months
before. And at 5 a.m. one morning, two cars pulled up
in these streets.
Eight or nine gunmen got out armed with assault
rifles and 40-millimeter grenade launchers. They
blasted their way into this house, and it took him
less than five minutes to execute the father, the
police commander, his wife, a policewoman, and in the
blaze that they started, to kill four children.
This is the drug war in Mexico. This is the war that
the Los Zetas are fighting. And this is the war on
America's doorstep that shows no sign of ending. And
with their fearsome weaponry and military expertise,
U.S. agencies consider the Zetas America's most
formidable enemy in the drug war.
RALPH REYES, MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICAN CHIEF, DEA:
The Zetas have obviously assumed the role of being
the number one organization responsible for the
majority of the homicides, the narcotic-rated of
homicides, the beheadings, the kidnappings, the
extortions that take place in Mexico.
WARE (voice-over): From this Washington, D.C.,
office, DEA Central American chief Ralph Reyes
directs America's fight against the Zetas, a fight he
says that will take years.
REYES: They continue to train new recruits through
several campaigns. One of them is a very public and
open narco banners that they pose around the country
of Mexico, specifically tailored to the military, in
that they will offer better pay and better benefits
if they join the ranks of the Zetas.
WARE: With their mastery of combat, says Reyes, this
organized crime network operates more like a U.S.
infantry company patrolling the streets of Fallujah
in Iraq than they do a street gang. And they're only
getting stronger.
(on-camera) Vera Cruz is a popular tourist
destination with colorful plazas just like this one.
But it's actually a thin veneer for what's really
going on beneath. Local newspapers almost daily have
headlines of the horror of the bloody violence of the
drug cartels. Cartels that here in Vera Cruz are more
often than not linked to the Los Zetas.
The American Drug Enforcement Agency tells me that,
whilst it was originally based on military lines,
it's being built on a business structure, with
quarterly meetings, business ledgers kept, even votes
on key assassinations.
And now the Los Zetas are taxing businesses beyond
even their drug reach. From human trafficking across
the American border to, as one recent scandal shows,
they've been imposing a kind of tax on the Mexican
government itself. The state-run oil company, it's
just been revealed, has been bleeding billions
through corrupt officials linked to the Los Zetas.
And as a DEA agent told me, the American border makes
little difference to the Los Zetas. To them, it
doesn't matter whether their violence is being
perpetrated on the Mexican side of the border or on
the American side.
(voice-over) On that American side, one of their
instruments of assassination was teenager Rosalio
Reta. He was just 13 years old when he first killed.
"I love doing it," says Reta in this police
interrogation. "Killing that first person, I loved
it. I thought I was superman."
But you can be certain there are more like him. And
there will be until America can defeat adversaries
like the Zetas and end the drug wars across the
border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Michael, as we mentioned, President Obama is
headed to Mexico on Sunday. Clearly, as you
mentioned, the Zetas don't have any regard for the
borders here. How much, though, do you think the drug
wars and, specifically Los Zetas, will actually be on
the agenda for these meetings?
WARE: Well, that's a great question, Erica. At this
stage we don't know. But what I can tell you is that
the Mexican drug war should be foremost on President
Obama's agenda when he does come here on the weekend
to Mexico.
Right now on average, 570 Mexicans are dying every
month in drug-related crime, in a war that is
essentially being fought by the Mexicans for America.
This is a war that's fueled by America's demand for
illegal drugs. And it's being fought with American
weapons, on both the government side and on the
cartel side.
So this is very much an American problem. And many of
us in the region will be looking to President Obama
to say something real about what America is about to
do -- Erica.
HILL: And clearly, a problem that is not getting
better any time soon. Michael Ware live for us in
Mexico City. Michael, thanks.