Calderon: US Shares Blame for Casino Massacre

Says US isn't doing enough to reduce America's demand for drugs
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2011 1:19 PM CDT
Calderon: US Shares Blame for Casino Massacre
Smoke billows from the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico, Thursday Aug. 25, 2011.   (AP Photo)

Some 52 people are dead after gunmen burst into a casino in Monterrey yesterday—and some of that blood is on US hands, says Mexico's president. "We're neighbors, we're allies, we're friends, but you are also responsible," said Felipe Calderone in a televised address today, complaining that the US isn't doing enough to quash America's "insatiable" demand for drugs and stop the illegal trafficking of US weapons into Mexico.

"We are not confronting common criminals," he said of the attackers. "We are facing true terrorists who have gone beyond all limits." Calderon has declared three days of mourning for the victims. MSNBC reports that surveillance footage captured four vehicles pulling up to the casino; three minutes later, smoke was pouring out. A number of the bodies were reportedly found in locked bathrooms, where casino workers and customers went in an attempt to escape the attackers. (More Felipe Calderon stories.)

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