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 Editorials | Opinions | June 2008 
To Address a Clear and Present Danger, the Merida Initiative
 Arturo Sarukhan - Ambassador of Mexico
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| | Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan | | |
Last October, at the behest of President Felipe Calderón, our two governments launched the Merida Initiative, a pioneering counterdrug cooperation effort, which recognizes that Mexico and the United States face a common transnational enemy and that we therefore need to work together to confront it guided by the principles of mutual trust, shared responsibility and reciprocity. This has allowed us to move beyond the unproductive finger-pointing of the past and jointly develop a much needed common strategy.
This is the great merit of the Merida Initiative and, as such, it lays the groundwork for the type of deeper engagement between Mexico and the United States that is needed given the magnitude of the challenge that our two countries face.
In recent weeks, both the Senate and the House of Representatives debated and approved different versions of the supplemental appropriations bill which includes the Merida Initiative, and are now working to craft language that will soon be voted on by Congress. I am confident that statesmanship and strategic thinking will win the day, and that what emerges from this process will enable us to move forward eight months after President Bush submitted the request to Congress to fund counternarcotics cooperation with Mexico.
The Merida Initiative complements and builds on President Calderón’s stepped-up efforts against drug traffickers that began as soon as he took office in December of 2006. These efforts have already yielded significant results, including world-record seizures of narcotics, cash and weapons, as well as unprecedented levels of cooperation with U.S. authorities in the area of extraditions. However, in this fight, the price paid by Mexico so far has been high, with 419 military and law enforcement officers killed during the present Administration, including the Chief of Operations of Mexico’s Federal Police. Yet President Calderón is fully committed to continue this fight, and in this he has the support of the vast majority of Mexicans. In a recent poll published by the national newspaper El Universal, 81 percent approved the government’s strategy against drug trafficking and 89 percent thought the Administration should persevere in this endeavor, with 91 percent in favor of keeping the military involved in this struggle.
The transnational nature of this phenomenon, however, makes it difficult for our country to successfully confront this threat on its own. It was this fact that led President Calderón to reach out to the United States, breaking a long-standing Mexican taboo against deeper security cooperation with the U.S. Yet the Merida Initiative has been met with a certain degree of apathy by some on both sides of the border who prefer to see no evil and hear no evil, while others remain skeptical as they worry about corruption and human rights abuses. Apathy in the face of such a scourge is difficult to understand, but the concern felt by some as a result of corruption and human rights abuses is one that the Calderón Administration shares. And precisely for that reason the Merida Initiative addresses these issues through measures such as a rigorous training and vetting process for law-enforcement officers and the strengthening of civil society watch-dog capabilities, while the landmark judicial reform promoted by President Calderón and approved by Congress seeks to increase the transparency, accessibility and fairness of the criminal justice system. Furthermore, the Government of Mexico is fully committed to an accountable use of resources and the respect for human rights in the fight against organized crime, and is therefore more than willing to jointly establish with the U.S. benchmarks to ensure that the Merida Initiative works and works well. Indeed, this is something that must be done given the nature of the challenge, and the need to confront it through genuine bilateral cooperation.
President Bush has stepped up to the plate and now Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, in both the House and the Senate, has the opportunity to propel the Merida Initiative forward and foster a positive sea-change in U.S.-Mexico relations in the area of security cooperation.
Secretary of State Rice recently wrote in regards to the free trade agreement with Colombia that one of the questions the U.S. faces in the Hemisphere is how it “treats its friends, especially when they are under pressure and attack.” Today Mexico confronts an unprecedented challenge to its public security, to its institutions and to the well-being of its citizens as organized crime lashes out against President Calderón’s offensive to break them.
The Merida Initiative is not a silver bullet that will magically solve the challenges posed by organized crime as it operates on both sides of our common border. However, it most certainly offers huge benefits to both our nations. Mexico’s historic suspicion and resentment of its larger, richer neighbor has long prevented closer ties that would benefit both sides. President Calderón invested considerable political capital in reaching out to the United States because he believes that only through sustained cooperation and shared responsibility can success be achieved in the fight against drugs and organized crime. The Merida Initiative is, in short, a clear and unprecedented opportunity for Mexico and the U.S. to engage strategically and address a clear and present danger to the well-being of our two peoples. |
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