From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is Mexico losing its war on drugs?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

5,000 people have died

in Mexico's drug wars during this year alone, and the violence is increasingly brutal. Most of the action

happens near the United States border, and there's growing concern that it will cross over.

President Felipe Calderon has deployed the army, but corruption at every level of government

has stymied

all efforts to gain control. How long will the Mexican public tolerate a climate of fear?

Does the U.S., which provides the market for illegal drugs, have to do more?

On reporter's notebook later on, did Blackwater Security Guards commit atrocities in Iraq?

First, here's the news.

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and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again. Warren, I'll only back with To the Point.

New official statistics reveal the cost of Mexico's drug wars, 5,000 killed this year, 1,000 during last month alone.

What's the risk of the brutal violence crossing the border? That's our program today.

On reporter's notebook, five Blackwater Security Guards have been charged in an American court with manslaughter during an infamous incident last year in Iraq. We'll hear what that investigation reveals. First, this news update, Illinois's Democratic governor, Ron Blagoevich, was arrested this morning. One charge is that he tried to sell his power to appoint Barack Obama's successor

to the United States Senate.

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