Mexican President defends handling of drug war ahead of Washington visit

Mexican President Felipe Calderon told Reuters ahead of his state visit to Washington that the violence sparked by his army offensive against Mexico’s drug cartels has stained the country’s image. He insisted he would keep up his campaign, saying it would have been much worse if he had let the cartels take over. Calderon also hit out in the May 13th interview against Arizona’s new measures on illegal immigrants, and said he would raise the issue in his discussions with President Barack Obama. Calderon added that Mexico still needs to raise taxes on consumption and eliminate tax breaks to strengthen its tax revenue base. The drugs war and proposed U.S. immigration reform will be central issues during Calderon’s state visit, and investors are closely following the government’s plans on taxes after two rating agencies last year downgraded the country’s debt rating, in large part because of weak tax revenues.