Five days before the vote to elect his successor, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon is urging the country's next leader not to abandon his militarized offensive against drug cartels.

Calderon says he hopes Mexico's next government "is truly committed to fight for the security of the Mexican people." In a speech on Tuesday, he said the fight against organized crime "must keep moving forward in the years to come."

The candidate of Mexico's former ruling party is favored to win the July 1 election. Enrique Pena Nieto has said he would deemphasize arrests of cartel leaders in favor of reducing violence against ordinary citizens. That has prompted concern in the U.S. and Mexico that Pena Nieto would relent in the fight against cartels. Pena Nieto calls that concern unjustified.