| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2008 
US Pledges to Build Ties with Mexico Despite Attacks
 Lachlan Carmichael – Agence France-Presse
go to original
| | Gun, munitions and cell phones seized from alleged Mexican drug dealers of the Pacifico drug cartel are displayed to members of the press in Mexico City on October 20. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa met here to discuss bilateral issues, including Mexico's spiraling drug crime, which Rice calls a "national security priority" for both countries. (AFP/Jorge Juarez) | | |
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – The United States pledged Thursday to deliver aid urgently to Mexico to curb spiraling drug crime and to further build ties with its neighbor to the south despite attacks on US interests.
Visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she told her Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa that "the United States considers this a very important initiative and its implementation to be an urgent task."
She was referring to the Merida Initiative, a 400-million-dollar anti-drug crime aid package signed into law in June by President George W. Bush.
"We are making a great deal of progress in getting to the point that (the United States) can disburse the funding for the initiative," said Rice at a press conference with Espinosa at the Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta.
"It is an initiative that will help in the security of Mexico and help in the security of the United States," Rice said.
Rice and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon, who was traveling with her, underlined that US officials were still working with Mexico to finalize documents on the delivery of the aid.
"I think it (the aid release) will be sooner than weeks," Shannon said on the flight to Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday.
During the flight, Rice called the fight against drug crime a "national security priority" for both countries, because Mexico is facing "unprecedented difficulties" that also affect the United States, north of the border.
Mexican officials, including President Felipe Calderon, have called for the rapid release of resources contained in the package -- most of it helicopters and surveillance airplanes.
Around 4,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence this year, despite a government crackdown involving the deployment of 36,000 troops across Mexico launched nearly two years ago.
The violence includes gruesome beheadings, kidnappings and massacres, particularly in northern areas bordering the United States.
More than 1,000 have died in suspected drug-linked attacks in northern border areas this year, including the volatile cities of Tijuana, across from San Diego, California, and Ciudad Juarez, further east, across from El Paso, Texas.
US drug chief John Walters said last week in Mexico City that drug-related violence was spilling across the Mexican border into the United States.
High security measures were in place for the two-day talks in Puerto Vallarta, including the deployment of 60 police officers, following an October 11 attack on the US consulate in Monterrey, south of the Texas border. A second incident where shots were fired nearby led to a brief closure of the consulate.
Rice said the United States had received "excellent cooperation from the Mexican government at both the local and at the national level" in dealing with the attacks, but understood the security challenges.
"We are accustomed of course, the United States of America, to working in challenging security environments and we will continue our work," Rice said. "Of course we will do everything we can to protect our people."
However, the United States would stay in places like "Monterrey to further our relationship, to press forward," she pledged.
Rice said US President George W. Bush has worked with Calderon and his predecessor Vicente Fox to build a "fundamentally transformed US-Mexican relationship."
Espinosa told the press conference that high level officials from Mexico and the United States coordinating the Merida Initiative group will meet for a first time at the end of November in Washington.
"The Merida Initiative is a sign of the maturity of our bilateral cooperation based on shared responsibility," Espinosa said.
Rice and Espinosa also signed an agreement to broaden US-Mexican cooperation in the event of a natural disaster or accident "anywhere" in their two countries.
The talks also touched on trade, development, the international financial crisis and Mexico's new UN Security Council role. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us