CUERNAVACA, Mexico, June 8 (Reuters) - The United States will stand by Latin American governments in their battle against powerful drug cartels, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales vowed on Friday.

Speaking after a two-day meeting with attorneys general from Mexico, Colombia and the countries of Central America, Gonzales said Washington would work with them to combat the smuggling cartels whose fight for territory, particularly in Mexico, has led to a surge in killings.

"The United States stands with all of our neighbors in our joint fight against violent gangs," Gonzales told reporters in Mexico. "For all of our citizens we must win this fight and I believe that working together as friends, as partners, we will."

Turf wars between Mexico's Gulf Cartel and an alliance of traffickers from the northwestern state of Sinaloa as well as other gangs killed some 2,000 people last year. More than 900 people have died in drug murders this year.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has sent thousands of troops to quell the violence, so far without much success.

Washington sends about $700 million a year in mostly military and anti-narcotics aid to Colombia, a key ally in the region.

Gonzales said Central America's small countries needed more help. Guatemala in particular has become a major transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine and other drugs, and its government is struggling to fight off the corrupting influence of the drug cartels.

Mexico says the United States is partly to blame for the drug violence because most of the guns the traffickers use are smuggled into Mexico from its northern neighbor. Gonzales said his government was looking into ways to cut the flow of illegal arms.

He said much of the debate at the meeting centered on how to crack down on money laundering.

"People engage in drug transactions and gun transactions because there is money to be made," he said. "If we could somehow disrupt the flow of funds, I think that will make us more successful."

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