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Bush Seeks Aid to Counter Mexico's Drug Cartels

News Briefs - News Briefs

Written by John Casquarelli

Friday, 26 October 2007

President Bush announced Monday that he will ask Congress to approve a $500 million package to help Mexico fight drug cartels, the largest international anti-drug effort by the United States in nearly a decade.

The proposal could represent a seismic shift in relations between the two countries, whose law enforcement agencies and policymakers have often bickered over the drug war, as well as other hugely contentious issues such as immigration reform and trade.
U.S. and Mexican negotiators reached the agreement in secrecy. Others in Mexico are worried that an aid package would infringe upon its sovereignty, while concerns in the United States surfaced about costs and strategy in light of the oft-criticized effort to combat drugs in Colombia.

The much-anticipated Mexico aid plan, which is included in the president's $46 billion supplemental budget request for war funding, would pay for helicopters, canine units, communications gear and inspection equipment, the State Department said.

The program would also include training and technical advice on vetting new police officers, and case-management software to track investigations in a nation where drug kingpins have infiltrated many state and local governments.

Infighting among drug traffickers has cost more than 4,000 lives in the past 22 months.

Mexico's drug cartels have been engaged in a fierce war for at least two years as they compete for lucrative trade routes, while trying to fill power vacuums left after the extradition of several major cartel leaders to face trial in the United States.

Although the bulk of U.S. attention is focused on Mexico, Bush also announced an additional $50 million in proposed aid for Central American nations that have been beset by rampant violence and drug cartel corruption as traffickers seek new routes for the tons of cocaine and other drugs that flow into the United States every day.

The aid packages are part of what the Bush administration hopes will be a multi-year, $1.4 billion initiative.

Bush barely mentioned the package in his budget remarks. But within minutes of his announcement, the White House -- cognizant of possible opposition in Congress -- launched a public relations offensive, distributing a statement about the aid plan that was followed by enthusiastic news releases from the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Antonio O. Garza Jr., and the State Department.

"This initiative . . . represents a fundamental shift in strengthening our strategic partnership and is the single most aggressive undertaking ever to combat Mexican drug cartels," Garza said.

Mexico's foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, called the request "a program of cooperation" rather than an aid package, and said it would give Mexico "better tools to protect the population from organized crime."

The proposal could face difficulties in Congress, where some members have complained that Mexico and the Bush administration have been negotiating for months in secret.

In Mexico, the news media have dubbed it Plan Mexico, a moniker that infuriates top Mexican officials because of its similarity to Plan Colombia, an ongoing, multibillion dollar program launched seven years ago that sent U.S. troops to Colombia as part of an effort to eradicate coca production and battle Marxist rebels.

Rights groups have also expressed concerns about whether training conducted by the United States could someday help another generation of Mexican cartel assassins. U.S. military instructors are widely believed to have been involved in training some members of Los Zetas, a group of former elite Mexican troops who serve as hit men for the powerful Gulf cartel.

Joy Olson, director of the nonprofit Washington Office on Latin America, remarked that she is concerned the Bush administration did not say which Mexican agencies would receive aid money.

"If they are allocated to civilian control structures, the funds are more likely to have a positive effect in strengthening the rule of law and civilian institutions," Olson said. "If funds are sent directly to the receiving countries' military forces, the plan could undermine civilian control of the armed forces and weaken efforts to strengthen civilian public security institutions."

-- Washington Post