Thread: Lawmakers to Drop Language in U.S. Anti-Drug Package for Mex

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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This is stupid....why are we BEGGING them to take our money.....You either take it with conditions ....or you don't take it....PERIOD

I knew they would back off of the conditions. WHY ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVES BENDING OVER BACKWARDS TO PLEASE MEXICO ALL THE TIME?
Isnt this OUR money? Did anyone remember being asked if "we the people" wanted our money thrown at Mexico in order for THE MEXICANS to take control of their own country? It seems to me that the drug cartels are their problem, not ours. I know I wouldnt give the crooked Mexican government a dime.

Christopher Dodd and the Democrats in congress bow down to Mexico!!!

Why are they so eager to give American taxpayer money to Mexico when they are well aware of the corruption in the Government there and in their police forces?
This is a very stupid thing these Democrats have decided to do and will only give Mexico another leg up to demand more and more from the US.

Are we already getting an idea of what more
Democrats in Congress will do against this country and it's citizens?

`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.''

The guy who said "No blank Checks". Be gentle Dodd , it's starting to hurt !

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.''

Way to stand up for your Country you freakin traitor

We need to give that money to OUR border patrol. It is OUR country we are suppose to be protecting. We gave them money and training before and they turned around and used it on us. I am tired of them spending OUR money like it was theirs. I think we should petition the government that everytime they want to spend OUR money they should ask us. It would be alright if they used our money wisely, but they don't.

"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."

That is just GREAT the United States has to overcome opposition from mexico so they will be willing to take another HANDOUT from the United States!

You can see the incompetence and stupidity of our politicians to accept blame for drugs coming into the country from Mexico like its all our fault and admit that all the guns going across the border are our fault. This is absurd. the government and public officials in Mexico are corrupt , dishonest and criminals. Everyone knows that. Now why would we give money to those crooks? It almost seems that people in our government have a piece of the action there and want to protect their drug income.

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.''

WRONG:

It should say: ``recognize the responsibility of the United States as the primary market for illegal drugs and Mexico as the primary market for weapons.

Calderon blamed the U.S. for illegal drugs/cartels saying if the U.S. didn't have the demand for drugs there wouldn't be smuggling and drug cartels.
To paraphrase that...........if Mexico didn't have the demand for weapons there wouldn't be weapon sales and smuggling.

Who is running our government? Instead of writing to our U.S. government officials should we be writing and calling the Mexican government?

U.S. lawmakers try to save Mexican drug fight plan 08 Jun 2008 21:55:57 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds U.S. lawmaker promise, paragraph 5)

By Gabriela Lopez

MONTERREY, Mexico, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers offered on Sunday to ease conditions tied to a $1.4 billion drug-fighting plan for Mexico and Central America after the Mexican government called it a threat to sovereignty.

Mexico has rejected the so-called Merida Initiative proposed by President George W. Bush because of demands by the U.S. Congress that the aid -- which includes helicopters and encrypted communication devices -- be subject to monitoring.

U.S. lawmakers also want to include human rights oversight in the three-year package, which Mexico says is unacceptable. Mexico is also upset by plans to reduce the dollar amount of aid from the original proposal.

But at a meeting of U.S. and Mexican lawmakers in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey on Sunday, both sides agreed to try to save the drug plan and soften the conditions. One way to do this could be to turn them into recommendations.

"We are going to fix the current wording in the proposal," U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters in Spanish. "Yes, we're going to change it," he replied when asked if U.S. lawmakers would drop the conditions.

The U.S. Senate wants the plan, which does not involve cash, to ensure Mexican soldiers accused of crimes be tried in civilian courts. It also wants Mexican federal officials to take on state and local anti-drug roles, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says.

The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon says it rejects any conditions because Mexico is undergoing its own police and judicial reform and its army is waging a deadly war with heavily armed drug gangs.

More than 1,400 people have been killed in drug violence so far this year across Mexico in cartel turf wars, a faster pace than in 2007, when around 2,500 people died over the year.

"There is a good disposition (on the part of U.S. lawmakers) to modify the language in such a way that it is accepted on this side," said Sen. Rosario Green, a former Mexican foreign minister.

The Merida Initiative would originally have offered Mexico $500 million during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and $50 million to Central America. But now U.S. lawmakers want to cut Mexico's share to as low as $350 million and offer up to $100 million to Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

INITIATIVE 'VITAL'

A senior U.S. anti-drug official urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Merida Initiative because of the scale of the narcotics war. "The Merida Initiative is vital," the official told Reuters in an interview. "The hold-ups in Congress are not good. It could be seen we're letting Mexico down."

The official, who declined to be named, predicts drug violence in Mexico will continue its surge because a powerful coalition of drug gangs led by Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, is collapsing.

Internal conflicts, greed and pressure by Mexico's military are causing a split among gangs from the Pacific state of Sinaloa, with each group seeking new alliances to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States.

"The Sinaloa cartel is weakened, divided ... . There are internal disputes, rivalries, betrayals," the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters in an interview. "You're going to see more violence."

"It is getting worse because police are engaging, because cartels want to create fear and because of attacks between rivals. It's going to get worse before it gets better." (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Mexico City; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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