CALDERON HEADS TO JUAREZ IN TRIP OF REASSURANCE

MEXICO CITY -- Though they represented just a fraction of the
thousands of people killed by gangland violence in Mexico, the murders
of 12 teenage students in Ciudad Juarez is igniting calls for an
overhaul of the drug-war crackdown on which President Felipe Calderon
has staked his presidency.

"It really captured a lot of people's attention in a way that the
literally tens of thousands of other killings have not," said
political scientist David Shirk, who specializes in Mexico's drug war
at the University of San Diego. "The impression of a lot of Mexicans
is that things are getting worse because of what the government is
doing, not despite it."

Calderon is scheduled to fly to Juarez today as a sign of his
commitment to setting things right in the city of more than 1.3
million bordering El Paso. He's expected to announce funding for
parks, jobs programs and other projects aimed at reducing the poverty
and despair anchoring the violence.

"The visit itself, his presence, is the most important thing," said
Lucinda Vargas, whose Juarez organization has struggled to find ways
to end the killing. "They can't solve problem from Mexico City, or
with an occasional statement of support."

Caldron promised Wednesday to pacify Juarez's concerns but also to
keep pursuing Mexico's narcotics smuggling gangsters with federal
troops and police.

Fifteen people, 12 of them teenage students and athletes, were
massacred at a party in a poor neighborhood Jan. 31. Police arrested a
man who confessed to taking part in the killing, saying it was the
result of feud between two Juarez gangs.

Some survivors of the attack have publicly blamed Calderon's strategy,
which put nearly 10,000 federal troops on Juarez's streets. Even with
the troops, violence has spiked, with Juarez accounting for a quarter
of Mexico's nearly 17,000 gangland killings over two years.

"The soldiers come and just drive around. Everything stays the same,"
said Luz Davila, whose two teenage boys died in the massacre. "When I
see them actually do something, I might believe."

Many commentators, opposition politicians and security experts have
called on Calderon to come up with a new strategy for taking on the
gangs.

"Contrary to what some think, this violence and feuding wouldn't end
with the pullback of federal forces," Calderon said Wednesday.
"Retreat would leave the citizenry totally abandoned and in the bloody
hands of the criminals."

Nationwide, public support for Calderon and his anti-crime efforts has
remained strong. But the slaughter of working class students -- who
authorities said had no apparent connection to Juarez's criminal gangs
- -- has shocked even the most complacent.

"Somebody called it Mexico's rock bottom moment. I hope that's true,"
Shirk said. "But Mexico's had many rock bottom moments. And things
keep getting worse."