| | |  Americas & Beyond | March 2009 
Clinton to Tackle Drug Violence in Trip to Mexico
 Agence France-Presse
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| | US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, seen here on March 11, 2009, applauds during the annual Tribute to International Women of Courage Award at the State Department in Washington, DC. Clinton has scheduled a trip to Mexico March 25-26, the State Department said Friday as worries about a bloody drug war has prompted talk about sending US troops to the border. (AFP/Chris Kleponis) | |
Washington – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Mexico later this month to tackle drug violence, a spokesman said Friday, amid talk here of sending troops to the border to prevent a spillover.
In her March 25-26 trip to Mexico City and Monterrey, Clinton will also discuss the North American Free Trade Initiative and preparations for an April Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, spokesman Gordon Duguid said.
Her main talks will be with Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa.
The pair will discuss counter-drug cooperation under the Merida Initiative, a program by which the United States has shared intelligence with its southern neighbor and provided it with training and equipment.
Duguid, a State Department spokesman, left the door open to new approaches under the initiative as Mexico experiences a surge in drug-related violence.
"The programs, the projects, the training that occur under Merida aren?t static. They can be adapted to the needs that both partners see on the ground," he said without elaborating.
Duguid said he understood why Congress, with "tough times for the US budget" amid the global financial crisis, set aside only 300 million dollars, 150 million dollars less than requested, under Merida this year.
But he added: "We have an ample amount of funding for this year and we will move forward on that basis."
The spokesman also played down the threat of violence to both the United States and Calderon's government.
"The violence in certain areas along the borders is of concern," he conceded.
However, he added it is "localized" and a result of President Felipe Calderon's decision to use the army to crush the drug traffickers. And he said he believed Calderon was firmly in control of his country.
President Barack Obama told US newspapers in an interview published Thursday that the United States is considering deploying national guard troops along the long southern border to prevent a spillover of drug violence.
For the moment however, the US leader said the spiraling border violence does not warrant "militarizing" the border.
The spokesman said Clinton wants to visit the northern city of Monterrey, as it "is an important city, an industrial city with ties to the United States not only economic, but cultural, because of its proximity to our border."
Duguid said Clinton would be safe during the visit to Monterrey.
In October, two gunmen opened fire and threw a hand grenade, which did not explode, at the US consulate in Monterrey, the US ambassador to Mexico said at the time. A few days later shots were fired near the consulate.
The motive was not known.
More than 1,000 people have been killed so far this year alone in suspected drug attacks amid the government's crackdown on warring cartels, while last year saw more than 5,300 killed in drug violence.
The violence flared after Calderon declared war on drug cartels nearly two years ago, prompting armed resistance from the country's drug barons and setting off a turf warfare between rival gangs. |
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