Rice goes to Mexico to discuss drug wars

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Improved cross-border cooperation in drug wars topped discussions between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart in Mexico.

U.S. President George Bush, concerned that violent clashes in Mexico threaten U.S. security, dispatched Rice to Puerto Vallarta Wednesday to meet with her local counterpart, Patricia Espinosa, The New York Times reported Thursday. The Mexicans wanted the high-level visit to push for greater coordination with the United States in fighting the heavily armed drug cartels, a State Department official said, adding that the world economic crisis was discussed as well.

Rice's visit is the latest in a series of trips by key representatives from the Bush administration to Mexico. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also traveled to Mexico. The trips indicate Bush's desire to help Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government fight the traffickers.

"There is a great deal of stress and strain being placed on the Calderon administration in Mexico, and we want to show our support," a State Department official told the Times.