Thread: U.S. and Mexican Governors Discuss Security

U.S., Mexican Governors Discuss Security

Published: 7/15/05











TORREON, Mexico (AP) - The governors of California, Texas and six Mexican border states promised on Thursday to work together to fight a wave of drug-fueled violence in border communities.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas said at the start of the two-day meeting that his state stands ready to help Mexico in the battle, noting Texas has already allocated an additional $5 million to support law enforcement along the border, and has increased the presence of state troopers in that area.

"One of the greatest challenges our nations face is putting off the violence of drug traffickers and ending the violence it has brought to both sides of the border," Perry said.

"The fact is that there can be no homeland security without border security," he noted.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not address the gathering in the northern industrial city of Torreon, and organizers said he would attend the governors' dinner and return to California.

Law enforcement representatives from both sides of the border are also expected to present a plan that includes sharing information on gangs and establishing a joint radio communications system, said Tony Garcia, deputy commander at the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Garcia, who is member of a binational committee on border security, said the plan also includes installing emergency response equipment that can be accessed and used by both U.S. and Mexican police in the event of a terrorist attack, chemical spill or natural disaster.

"Public safety is a top priority for the border region because if you don't have it, tourism falls down, trade can go to the wayside," Garcia said.

Cities on both sides of the border rely on tourists who cross over to shop and visit relatives. But recent violence, especially in Nuevo Laredo, has diminished that cross-border trade.

The violence in Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, has left 87 people dead since the beginning of the year. It also prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory alerting citizens to recent drug-trafficking and kidnappings on the Mexican side of the border.

The plan also calls for better training for Mexican police, programs to prevent violence along the border, and the creation of a database containing the identities of members of criminal organizations, including the Zetas, a group of Mexican soldiers-turned-drug hit men believed to be controlling Nuevo Laredo.

Garcia said Chihuahua law enforcement officials also have begun work on a database of members of the Mara Salvatrucha and the MS-18, two of the most ruthless Central American gangs. Their members have spread to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The gangs got their start in Los Angeles in the 1980s, becoming popular among Salvadorans who fled to the United States to escape their country's civil war.

A decade later, they had spread to Central America - in large part because their members were deported for crimes committed in the United States.

The plan will have to be approved by the governors of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and Mexico's Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora and Tamaulipas.

Other topics to be discussed during the 23rd annual Border Governors Conference include agriculture, economic development, education, environment, health and tourism.

Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger drew criticism from Mexican officials after he praised volunteer border patrols in Arizona.

Mexicans also were angered when Republican-sponsored bills were introduced into the state legislature, aimed at denying a series of benefits to illegal immigrants and creating a state border police force.

An Assembly committee rejected the bills, but legislators said there would be efforts to put their proposals on the ballot next year as initiatives.

Why are we discussing national security with the enemy? I really don't care what they have to say about border security. Until we get serious about our borders without worrying about what Mexico thinks then we will continue to see an increase in these types of criminal activities and more innocent Americans will either have their lives ruined or will lose their lives over this.

The only way to save America people is you. You have to because we all know that our checkered pants schleps in our government won't do it and this is just another example. We have a crisis on our hands and all these idiots want to do is sit down and discuss it with the same enemy who is the real source of the problem. More Americans will die while our government sits around and does nothing. Sickening and disgusting.