MEXICAN PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON WILL SHARE PLAN TO QUELL VIOLENCE
DURING VISIT

Mexican President Felipe Calderon will respond to concerns about the
alarming violence in Juarez during his visit Thursday to the border
city.

The president, who's come under fire for how the war against the drug
cartels has turned out, is expected to unveil his Juarez Intervention
Plan.

Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the plan represents the
collaboration of Mexican local and federal governments and will
include the entire community's views.

Residents have complained about the unprecedented murders of more than
4,500 men, women and children since January 2008.

The killings continue unabated despite the presence of thousands of
soldiers and federal agents, leading critics to question the
government's strategy up to now.

The deaths reached a new climax with the Jan. 31 massacre of 16 youths
and adults during a birthday party in the Villas de Salvarcar
neighborhood in northeast Juarez.

Some families of the victims, most of whom were young students, blamed
Calderon's government for what happened. Authorities have said drug
gangs were responsible for the slayings.

Human-rights activists also faulted Mexico's president for sending
soldiers to Juarez to battle the cartels.

The border city has been the site of a bloody feud between drug
traffickers loyal to the Carrillo Fuentes drug organization and
followers of kingpin Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera.

Nationally, more than 17,000 people have been killed throughout Mexico
since the drug wars began. However, officials have conceded that most
of the casualties stem from cartel-on-cartel violence, rather than
from a frontal assault by government forces against the cartels.

Fernando Gomez Mont, Mexico's federal interior secretary, met earlier
this week in Juarez with various community leaders. He also visited
families of the massacre victims.

"President Calderon will communicate his comprehensive strategy
directly to the people of Juarez," Gomez told reporters, without
providing details.