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March 03,2006Cari Hammerstrom cari@themonitor.com
Monitor Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Mexican interior Secretary Carlos Abascal announced Friday a cooperative agreement to respond to incidences of border violence.

Before coming to Brownsville’s Hope Park for a bilingual press conference, the two point men met at the University of Texas at Brownsville to hammer out the frame work of the binational memorandum of understanding that will set up points of contact in the U.S. and Mexican governments for handling incidents such as bomb threats, shootings and fleeing felons.

Information will be exchanged quicker and more frequently, cross-border training will occur and investigations will be coordinated, Chertoff and Abascal said.

"When we work together, we can accomplish many things," Chertoff said as the Mexican flag waved in the background near the Gateway International Bridge. "…We can attack these criminal groups from both sides of the border."

"Security, safety and immigration are shared problems … Cooperation is what is going to let us solve these issues," Abascal said in Spanish.

Chertoff pointed to recent history, where binational operations—like Operation Rio Grande and Operation Black Jack— have reduced crime in cities such as Brownsvillle and Laredo, respectively.

He said headway has been made, and today’s agreement lays the operational framework for a safer border.

The government has backed up the agreement with specific operational protocols, he said.

"This is not just a document that commits us in principle," Chertoff said.

Cari Hammerstrom covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4424.