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The Secret Merida Initiative

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter

Nov 27, 2007 10:00 PM PST

Not only is the Bush administration not sharing details of the Merida Initiative with the public (voters) but is leaving Congress in the dark. Many members of Congress say because of these secret dealings it is causing mistrust and political friction between the Whitehouse and Congress. These problems have arisen over the Merida Initiative, which has been negotiated virtually in secret by the governments of Mexico and the United States. Lawmakers in both countries complained of the lack of prior information about the agreement, and the U.S. Congress said its approval is still much in doubt.

 Shannon O’Neil, CFR’s Mexico expert, says that although many members of Congress are upset at not being consulted on the details of the $1.4 billion multiyear initiative to bolster Mexico’s crackdown on drug and criminal rings, she believes that it will get congressional approval. “There is political will on both sides to help Mexico out,” she said.

Officials in Washington said the aid plan is unprecedented.
The Merida Initiative is a proposal by the Bush Administration to spend over $1.4 Billion to aid Mexico in the drug war that is raging on our border, including supplying the Mexican military with helicopters and advanced surveillance equipment.  According to local American police forces, they are receiving next to nothing despite all the DHS talk about funds for frontline responders in the war on terror.

Skeptics and fatalists are already balking and can be expected to cite past failures. During the mid-1990s Clinton Administration effort to equip Mexico to fight the drug war was poorly thought out, and the Vietnam-era Army surplus that was sent to Mexico (with no accompanying training and maintenance) was eventually returned to the United States with a massage thanks bit no thanks.

It is being touted as an anti-drug assistance program, by the American government and they claim the Merida Initiative also includes measures for tighter border security and action against terrorism.

The Mérida Initiative's bland name was chosen to avoid comparisons with "Plan Colombia" and to deny Calderón's opponents--such as López Obrador and other Hugo Chávez sympathizers--the chance to assert that the United States is attempting to diminish Mexico's sovereignty.

 

Even if The Mérida Initiative is passed and implemented it is unlikely to be any victories soon. The drug cartels will fight back with their deep pockets, characteristic ruthlessness including pay off to those charged with fighting it. The battle is going to be mainly on Mexico's turf the Mexican wants no U.S. drug enforcement agents or military boots on the ground. The only real hope to guard against corruption and abuse is adequate benchmarks and safeguards for transparency and accountability all along the way.

The drug war is as real as any war elsewhere in the world. People are being killed daily, U.S. national security is threatened, the spill-over effects degrade border security, and both governments are damaged by the corrupting influences of drug money.

Many of the US county sheriff’s complain that their deputies are out gunned and out manned by the drug traffickers and represent a real threat to law enforcement all along the US Mexican border.
 
Law enforcement including Sheriff’s, Police Chiefs and regular concerned citizens along the Mexican American border say the US Government is doing very little to support and protect the hundreds of miles of border.

Diana Villiers Negroponte visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution said, “The details of this plan must now be shared with the Mexican and U.S. Congress to ensure transparency in the formulation and implementation of the Merida Initiative. The grant of military equipment and short-term measures to contain criminal networks may de-capitate their leadership and create internal confusion for a while, but the underlying political and socio-economic reasons for their criminal enterprise will oblige them to re-emerge. Both our societies need to understand what lies behind this upward catapult in criminal behavior and both Mexicans and North Americans need to understand what is at stake. Threats to security impact daily lives, economic activity, as well as the diversion of resources from education, health and housing to police and military operations. Comprehension of the interrelated nature of security threats requires openness with the public, a willingness to test assumptions and dialogue over priorities. To engage both our societies is to raise awareness and seek public support for a sustained offensive that may have to continue for a decade.”

A Texas rancher who wants to not be named said to the Journal, “How can our government, whose officers are sworn to protect the nation, allow this to continue? Why are they leaning over backwards to help out the corrupt Mexican government while our own enforcement agents, federal and local, are having their hands tied behind their backs, or even worse, being thrown in prison for going up against these ruthless gangs? How absurd is it that we can give money to Mexico, which is selling every barrel of oil it produces, and then claim we cannot afford to arm and support our own people?

This Merida proposal is set to go before congress soon for approval. It should be rejected in total! Not only that, but that same $1.4 Billion dollars should be immediately put to use in securing our border by adding more agents, upgrading the training and firepower of local law enforcement, and most importantly, by deploying American combat troops along the border. Combat troops by the way, does not mean National Guard personnel. The Guard has been overused in Iraq, and its members are folks who have jobs at home to return to. Our military should be assigned this task, as this is now a national security issue.

John Negroponte, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, and Tom Shannon, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, met in Mexico this week with government officials, lawmakers and heads of media outlets to promote the Merida Initiative.

At the meetings, they said 40 percent of the first $500 million of aid for 2008 would go to support the action of the Mexican armed forces, which are fully involved in the war on drug mafias, and the rest would go to police and migration officials, as well as other civilian agencies.

Sources:

Ray Walser, Ph.D., is Senior Policy Analyst for Latin America in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and James M. Roberts is Research Fellow for Economic Freedom and Growth in the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation.