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Mexico’s presidential front-runner opposes legalizing drugs, saying in an interview Monday that the idea is too “simplistic” to fight narcotics trafficking in the violence-plagued country. Enrique Pena Nieto said allowing the use of so-called soft drugs would only open the door to abusing harder substances.

“So far no one has convinced me that this is the solution,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It seems to be the answer for those who don’t see another way to reduce violence. But I favor a debate and evaluating the arguments people are making about the subject in different parts of the world.”

Authorities in Mexico have raised the alert level for the Popocatepetl volcano southeast of Mexico City due to increasing activity. It’s now at the fifth step on a seven-level warning scale.

A lava dome is growing in the volcano’s crater, the National Disaster Prevention Center said Tuesday. The 17,886-foot (5,450-meter) volcano also has been spewing fragments of incandescent rock recently, as well as water vapor and ash. The volcano could experience “significant explosions of growing intensity that hurl incandescent rocks significant distances,” large ash showers and possible flows of mud and molten rocks down the volcano’s flanks, the center said.

Although Pope Benedict XVI’s March 23-28 outing to Mexico and Cuba officially constituted one voyage, in reality it was a tale of two trips. In Cuba, the pontiff was at his most political, engaging in a delicate and controversial tête-à-tête with the Castro regime; in Mexico, Benedict instead focused on the pastoral, featuring a gentle debunking of clericalism.

Benedict’s six-day journey, which took him to the León archdiocese in Mexico and Santiago and Havana in Cuba, was the 23rd foreign outing of his papacy, but his first to Spanish-speaking Latin America.

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck southern Mexico on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake’s epicenter was about 17 miles (27 kilometers) from Ometepec, Guerrero. It was about 7.6 miles (12 kilometers) deep, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Officials described the quake as an aftershock of the 7.4-magnitude temblor which struck in the same area on March 20, damaging hundreds of homes.

A large earthquake has struck near Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake had a magnitude of 7.4 and put the epicentre at 15 miles (25km) east of Ometepec, in Guerrero state.

Witnesses in the capital, Mexico City, said the tremor sent office workers rushing out onto the streets. Some 500 houses were damaged in Guerrero state, according to the state’s governor, local TV reported.

Texas on Tuesday warned residents for the third consecutive year not to travel to Mexico during the upcoming university spring break season, saying drug cartel violence and other criminal activity are a safety threat even in resort areas. The advisory comes despite pleas from top Mexican officials to target the travel warnings to specific areas where the threat of violence is greatest.

Mexican officials said that popular tourist areas such as Cancun and Cabo San Lucas are safe for American travelers.

Mazatlan beating victim Sheila Nabb is now back at home recovering with family but will likely need additional surgeries. More >