Pissing off the neighbors

The world is getting pretty tired of our interference and our edicts.

A U.S. alert about violence in northern Mexico created unexpected friction on Thursday, just as new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other new members of George W. Bush's team are starting to take office.

"Mexico laments the tendency to alarm that the public announcement to U.S. citizens could release," President Vicente Fox's office said in a prepared statement reacting to pronouncements issued Wednesday by the U.S. government.

[...]

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel, said in a nationwide television interview Thursday that the alert "went too far."

"Why didn't they say anything a week ago when I was in that meeting with the secretary of homeland security?" Creel said, referring to a meeting with Tom Ridge on Jan. 17 in Calexico, California. "He didn't express any concern to me. On the contrary," Ridge praised Mexico's actions, Creel added.

[...]

Both Creel and U.S. officials said much of the violence has resulted from Mexico's success in arresting drug chieftains, leading to battles as destabilized networks of gangsters fight to control drug routes.

[...]

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday that 27 U.S. citizens have been abducted in Mexico's northern border region over the past six months and two have been killed. He said it was important to inform Americans about the security situation along the border.

Wednesday's State Department announcement noted that "the overwhelming majority of victims of violent crime have been Mexican citizens," but said some U.S. citizens have been targets and said all should be aware of "the deteriorating security situation."

"Mexico's police forces suffer from lack of funds and training and the judicial system is weak, overworked and inefficient," the State Department said. It noted that "some elements of the police might be involved" in the violence.

[...]

Mexican officials seemed especially upset by the emphatic manner of the U.S. alert: A formal announcement by the State Department was accompanied by the public release of a letter to Mexican officials by Garza who is considered here to be a relatively close friend of Bush.

[...]

The presidential statement on Thursday said Mexico shares U.S.concerns about border violence, but said it had taken strong action and added, "The Mexican government does not accept the judgment or labels of any foreign government about the political actions it carries out to face its problems.
  El Universal article

May be the perfect timing for Mexico to negotiate with its neighbors to the South.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.