PURITANS SOUTH:

With Calderón in, a new war on Mexico's mighty drug cartels: Mexico's new president is tackling some of the country's toughest problems, but what will it take to succeed? (Sara Miller Llana, 1/22/07, The Christian Science Monitor)

Authorities in Operation Michoacán have arrested dozens of people, including suspected drug lords. They have seized firearms, bulletproof vests, antennas, and telephones, and destroyed more than a thousand acres of marijuana fields. The goal, says General García Ruiz, is to disrupt both the cartels' economic means and modes of communication.

This past weekend, Calderón was praised by US officials for taking key steps toward that goal with his decision to extradite four major drug traffickers - including the alleged head of the notorious Gulf cartel, Osiel Cardenas - to the US. Mexican and US officials say this will end Mr. Cardenas's ability to conduct turf wars against rivals from his cell in a maximum-security prison near Mexico City.