PEACE ACTIVIST PLEADS FOR U.S. TO HELP STOP MEXICO'S VIOLENCE

EL PASO - Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, bringing his peace caravan to
U.S. soil, said Saturday that the United States needs to halt the
flow of illegal weapons, cut its demand for illegal drugs, and
suspend its 40-year war on drugs, which he said is only generating
bloodshed in Mexico and forcing thousands to flee north.

The caravan ended its six-day journey Saturday by crossing the border
into El Paso, one of the safest U.S. cities and home to tens of
thousands of Mexicans who have left their homeland in the past three
years. Sicilia's son was among an estimated 40,000 people killed in
criminal violence since late 2006.

Gathered at San Jacinto Plaza downtown, members of the peace movement
came with a message: Help us change Mexico. Many said they want to
rebuild their homeland into a nation where laws are enforced,
politicians are held accountable, and corruption is eradicated.

But behind the "death of so many Mexicans, the exodus of so many
here, also lies the responsibility of the United States," a
soft-spoken Sicilia said. "The silence of U.S. citizens has led us to
a war that is destroying us."

Sicilia called on Americans to demand new policies from U.S. elected
officials and from authorities responsible for enforcing laws.

Mexico's problems go beyond the government of President Felipe
Calderon, who, weeks after taking office, sent out tens of thousands
of troops to reclaim territory lost to criminal groups, beginning in
his home state of Michoacan. Sicilia said the deeper problem lies
within Mexico's political structures, which must be reformed, and
with Mexicans learning to take responsibility for their actions.

But he said the United States must do its part. He asserted that the
$1.4 billion Merida Initiative, which supports Mexico's anti-drug
efforts with equipment and training, is only feeding more violence
because it empowers Mexico's military instead of getting to the root
of social problems. He noted that the southwestern United States is
home to some 12,000 gun shops, and that the U.S. is the world's
largest market for illegal drugs.

The result, he said, is chaos in Mexico and people leaving "because
my country cannot offer them the security or the dignity to stay
where they should be."

On Friday, Sicilia and others signed a pact that is meant to become
the platform for demanding a change in the government's strong-arm
strategy against drug trafficking. Many gathered in El Paso also
signed and added three more provisions for protection of victims and
investigation into killings, including those of U.S. citizens; asylum
for victims of violence; and a halt to the Merida Initiative.