Lawmakers to Drop Language in U.S. Anti-Drug Package for Mexico

By Thomas Black

June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Members of a U.S. congressional delegation pledged today to soften language in anti-drug aid legislation to overcome Mexican opposition, following two days of meetings in Monterrey, Mexico.

The U.S. House and Senate each passed versions of the aid called the Merida Initiative requiring the Mexican government to certify that law enforcement authorities fighting drug cartels aren't involved in corruption or human-rights abuses. The administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon has rejected the certification condition.

The group of nine senators and House members who met with Mexican legislators agreed to drop from the aid package ``anything that smacks of certification,'' said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who participated.

``This language has got to change, obviously,'' Dodd said in an interview after the meetings. ``If we're going to have a long- term bilateral relationship, you've got to be very sensitive.''

Mexico is seeking U.S. assistance to curb a wave of drug- trafficker violence that has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,600 people this year, including the assassination of the country's acting federal police chief last month.

President George W. Bush last year proposed a three-year, $1.4 billion package to fight organized crime in Mexico, Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Senate version calls for a total of $450 next year, with $350 million for Mexico, while the House aims for $461 million, with $400 million for Mexico.

House Version

Dodd said the final legislation will likely end up more like the House version. He declined to say what guidelines would be given for spending the aid money.

Mexican legislators, including Senator Rosario Green, a former foreign minister, said they were pleased with what they heard from the U.S. delegation.

``They understood the words that accompany this initiative aren't acceptable words for the Mexican government, legislators and its people,'' Green said. ``There is good disposition to modify this language.''

U.S. lawmakers will support an initiative ``that addresses our shared interests and concerns,'' Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who heads the foreign operations subcommittee, said in a letter that was addressed to Dodd and circulated to the Mexican delegation.

``There is bipartisan support in the Congress for the goals of the Merida Initiative, which represents the beginning of a closer and more cooperative relationship between the United States, Mexico and Central America,'' the letter said.

Leahy's Letter

Leahy added in the letter that U.S. lawmakers ``recognize the responsibility of the United States as the primary market for illegal drugs and the source of most of the guns used by the Mexican cartels.''

Leahy last month defended putting conditions on the aid because of corruption in Mexico.

``Since when is it bad policy, or an infringement of anything, to insist that American taxpayer dollars not be given to corrupt, abusive police or military forces in a country whose justice system has serious flaws and rarely punishes official misconduct?'' Leahy said in a statement last month.

Bush last week urged Congress to approve the anti-drug aid package without putting ``unreasonable'' conditions on the Mexican government.

Ruth Zavaleta, speaker of the lower house of Mexico's legislature, said it's now up to the U.S. Congress to change the anti-drug aid legislation to make it more acceptable.

``There's a commitment to take the concerns that Mexicans have here and discuss them in the U.S. Congress,'' Zavaleta said. ``We hope this can be corrected with the demands that we have.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey, Mexico, at tblack@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 8, 2008 17:04 EDT

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