Mexico Warns It May Reject U.S. Drug Trafficking Aid
How could they accept aid from the US to combat their own officials and politicians?
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government warned Monday it would not accept conditions the U.S. Congress has imposed on an aid package to combat drug trafficking.
The Merida Initiative would provide US$1.4 billion over several years to help Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti combat drug trafficking. But the U.S. House and Senate have imposed several conditions on the aid, including guarantees of civilian investigations into human rights abuses by the Mexican military.
Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino said the conditions were “counterproductive and profoundly contrary to the object and spirit” of the initiative announced by U.S. and Mexican officials last year.
“The initiatives approved by both chambers of the U.S. Congress incorporate some aspects that, in their current versions, are unacceptable for our country,” Mourino said.
He said Mexico would wait for a final version of the bill before deciding whether to accept the aid.
The House and Senate approved different amounts for the first installment of the aid, and the two versions must be reconciled. Both bills fell well short of the US$500 million sought by the Bush Administration.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has earned strong support from Washington for his crackdown against drug cartels, carried out by more than 25,000 troops nationwide.
But violence has surged as cartels fight back with increasingly brazen attacks against security forces. Last week, a senior police officer appealed for more powerful weapons after seven federal officers were killed in a shootout with members of the Sinaloa cartel.
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This is just plain wrong on several levels.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 pmEnjoy the piss and shit then, Mexico.
(your own)
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 pmthose aren’t us guns are they?
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:40 pmMex. govt. warned it would not accept “condtions”—like not being able to skim 20%,-
Pound sand, Felipe Calderon–fukn wetback.
Mexican military-is a joke-if they didn’t have poor peasants and tourists to intimidate, they would spend there days admiring themselves in a mirror.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:37 am\
128 Americans killed in mexico last year–(state dept)
no problemo here senoir—keep moving——-
why do we keep kidding ourselves mexico? they are hardly a friend these days. they just want our American money. i say close down the border now
June 4th, 2008 at 6:05 am