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Mexican President Felipe Calderon says Mexico’s drug violence stoked by U.S. weapons sales

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Mexican President Felipe Calderon said drug violence in his country reflects demand for narcotics in the neighboring U.S. and easy access to weapons.

“We are right next to the biggest drug consumer in the world,” Calderon told reporters in Tokyo today during a visit to Japan. The U.S. also “doesn’t have the least objection, any scruples, about selling all the arms it can to our country.”

The remarks followed the killing of at least 16 students attending a party in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez over the weekend by masked gunman. Calderon, who has used the military to crack down on drug gangs since taking office in December 2006, won a promise from President Barack Obama last year to push for the ratification of an arms-trafficking treaty.

Full story: Calderon Says Mexico Violence Stoked by U.S. Weapons – Bloomberg