Merida Initiative Supports Mexican Organizations to Advance Bilateral Efforts on Crime & Violence Prevention

US Embassy: The Embassy of the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide funding over the next three years to support local Mexican organizations working in the area of crime and violence prevention in Mexico. The funding is part of the Merida Initiative, a historic cooperation mechanism that acknowledges the shared responsibilities of the United States and Mexico to counter drug-fueled violence threatening citizens on both sides of the border.

USAID/Mexico is partnering with four local organizations to support crime and violence prevention efforts in Mexico.  The work by these organizations will focus on two objectives: 1) Generating opportunities for at-risk youth to contribute productively in their communities; and, 2) Supporting efforts to facilitate the replication of successful crime prevention models through strategic partnerships. Read more.

A message to Mexico on abuses

mySA: The United States, in the interest of bilateral harmony, has been looking the other way too long when it comes to Mexico’s human rights abuses. That the State Department found it could do so no longer says something about our southern neighbor’s continuing slide into that morass under the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto.

The U.S. is withholding only a fraction — $5 million — of the $195 million in Merida Initiative funding to aid in the fight against vicious drug cartels. This is meant to send a message that the United States will no longer take Mexico’s assurances on human rights at face value. Read more.

U.S. Cuts Off $5 Million in Security Aid to Mexico

WSJ: Signaling disapproval of recent human rights violations in Mexico, the U.S. government is withholding $5 million in funding for the country’s security and judicial system, officials have confirmed.

The money is a small fraction in funding that was to be disbursed by the State Department this year under the eight year old Merida Initiative, through which the U.S. Congress so far has appropriated more than $2.3 billion in aid earmarked to train and equip Mexico’s security forces and to improve its judicial system.

U.S. blocks some anti-drug funds for Mexico over human rights concerns

Washington Post: In a setback for its multibillion-dollar effort to help Mexico fight its drug war, the U.S. State Department has decided that Mexico failed to reach some human rights goals, triggering a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid.

The move, which has not been reported previously, affects a small portion of the annual anti-drug funds given to Mexico. But it is a clear sign of U.S. frustration. It comes as Mexico has been roiled by several cases of alleged abuses by security forces, including the disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero last year.

Through the Merida Initiative, a major U.S. program to support Mexico’s battle against its drug cartels, Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion since 2008 for equipment such as helicopters and border sensors as well as training programs for thousands of Mexican officials. Read more.

Mexico says 2012 attack on US Embassy vehicle was a "Crass" error

Borderland Beat: A 2012 incident in which Mexican federal police raked an armored U.S. Embassy vehicle with gunfire was the result of a “crass error” in judgment by the officers but was not an ambush ordered by organized crime, the nation’s top security czar said Wednesday.

In the Aug. 24, 2012, incident, federal police attacked a U.S. Embassy vehicle, riddling it with at least 152 rounds of assault weapons fire in what U.S. diplomats later termed an “ambush.”

The attack occurred along a mountain road southwest of the capital. Read more. 

Laura's Blog: Gag order on shooting of Embassy personnel?

A week after a van with diplomatic plates was ambushed by Mexican Federal Police members, wounding two CIA agents, neither the U.S. or Mexican governments have much to say about the incident.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland treated a question on the attack like the political hot potato it is. She seemed to plead for the next question, and the lack of diligence by the reporter made for an easy dodge.

QUESTION: Additionally, there’s been an increasing controversy in Mexico over the incident with the U.S. diplomatic convoy, particularly the firing on the U.S. diplomatic van. The Embassy in Mexico initially classified it as an ambush. The Mexican Government says it was an accident. Which is it? And then can you confirm some of the – what were these two individuals (inaudible) link – to what U.S. agency were they linked?
MS. NULAND: As you know, the Mexican Government is investigating this incident. Our Embassy is cooperating in that investigation and trying to assist it in any way that we can. I’m not going to get ahead of the investigation – I think we’re going to wait and see what that concludes – nor am I going to get into speculating on any of the specifics until we see what the investigation leads to.
Please.
QUESTION: Just a follow-up: Have you taken any extra steps to protect U.S. borders in Mexico after this incident?
MS. NULAND: Well, we --
QUESTION: Are you worried about this?
MS. NULAND: We always are in a strong security posture around the world as necessary, but we don’t speak about any of the details of that.
Anything else? Please.

It seems both the U.S. and Mexican governments have handed down a gag order on the strange incident. On the U.S. side the DEA came out with a statement denying that any of their agents were involved. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported what the Mexican paper La Jornada had reported earlier:

The two Americans who were wounded when gunmen fired on an American Embassy vehicle last week were Central Intelligence Agency employees sent as part of a multiagency effort to bolster Mexican efforts to fight drug traffickers, officials said on Tuesday.

What do we know and not know about the ambush?

1. The van was taking the two CIA agents to train new Navy recruits at a firing range outside Mexico City. It was clearly identified and well-known to people in the area. The U.S. government has often cited its preference for the Navy and mistrust of the Army in Mexico, so Navy war games having nothing to do with water are common in this drug war.
2. A green Chrysler drove up and blocked the way of the Toyota van. The driver immediately threw the car into reverse to escape. (First question: If this were indeed a case of mistaken identity, how did the driver immediately know this was an attack?)
3. A second car cut off passage from behind. Shots were fired but the Toyota was armored.
4,. The Toyota again tried to escape and manage to proceed to a gas station where it continued to be fired on, with some bullets penetrating the protective shields and injuring the passengers.
5. The assailants fled when police and Navy vehicles arrived on the scene. They were later captured. 6. Twelve Federal Police agents have been arrested.

What does this bizarre incident indicate?

So far both governments seem to be preparing some version of a case of "mistaken identity". The NYT quotes anonymous US government officials as stating that "no evidence had emerged so far that the Americans were targeted because of their affiliation."

However, both Reforma and La Jornada gathered detailed interviews from local residents stating that anybody could see that the vehicle had diplomatic plates and that the agents' comings and goings are common knowledge in the area. The possibility that the Federal Police did not know who they were shooting at is extremely low.

The next obvious question is: why did the Mexican police shoot the CIA agents?

Speculation has emerged that these police were in cahoots with an organized crime group. That's pretty common here. Generally speaking, when organized crime shoots a U.S. agent, it's to send a message, not just to get rid of somebody. They know that the action will have binational ramifications.

In this scenario, it's hard to say what the potential message was. I´m not going to speculate on that until we know more.

The officers' families have offered explanations that it was a simple mistake and/or that their relatives were fired on first. They were quoted as fearing a frame-up to "stay on the United States' good side".

If history is any indication, we may never know what really happened. One certainly gets the impression that this incident is not something either drug-war ally wants to talk about. Compare the response of the U.S. government to the shooting of ICE agent Jaime Zapata on Feb. 15, 2011, when it immediately demanded justice and participated in the investigation. 

Incidentally, the Mexican government also called that a case of mistaken identity, and probably will continue to claim all such cases are mistaken identity, since admitting that US agents are targeted could jeopardize the many programs that send U.S. agents to Mexico

The ambush also shows once again that U.S. funding to the Mexican federal police force, which has run in the millions since the Merida Initiative began in 2008, is funding a force that attacks U.S. agents, not to mention the massive evidence of violation of Mexicans' human rights and attacks on their lives.

The NYT article notes the evident irony:

Through programs like the $1.6 billion Merida initiative, the United States has spent millions of dollars on training and equipping the federal police.

This incident further derails the Washington argument that the police force is an acceptable option for funding the drug war since it is being "reformed".

The conservative Wall Street Journal noted the "embarrassment" to the Mexican government of having its Federal Police Force go for the jugular of the hand that feeds it:

The incident has proved an embarrassment for the Mexican government, which receives millions of dollars annually in U.S. aid for its drug war and which has touted its federal police as the most professional force.

In addition to the embarrassment of Federal Police misbehavior, there is the issue of why CIA agents are training young Mexican Navy recruits to shoot their own people.

U.S. growing involvement in Mexico has raised the eyebrows and the ire of some members of Congress here in Mexico City. Since the ambush, they have called for a hearing and demanded that the Calderon administration give out information on the extent and the activities of U.S. agents.

This is a question that many of us have had for a long time now.

In Texas, Caution, Optimism Greet Mexican Election

Texas Tribune: With a mix of trepidation and optimism, Texas lawmakers are closely watching Mexico’s election on Sunday. The expected outcome would return the Institutional Revolutionary Party to power.

Polls show that Enrique Peña Nieto, a P.R.I. member and former governor of the state of Mexico, is in line to become the country’s next president. That would swing power back to the center-left party after 12 years of rule by the more moderate National Action Party, whose legacy has been stained by six years of grueling war against drug traffickers.

But Texas lawmakers are concerned that the PRI would revive its tainted past, which included reports of corruption and deal-making with criminal elements. Read more.

Mexico election unlikely to reshape drug war

latimes.com: The top candidates in next week's presidential vote all emphasize plans for reducing the drug cartels' brutal violence, but nobody offers a significant new strategy.
MEXICO CITY — Six years into a ghastly drug war, none of the top candidates in next Sunday's presidential election has offered a significant new strategy to win a conflict that has claimed more than 50,000 lives and terrorized Mexican society.

Instead, the politicians emphasize reducing the increasingly brutal violence, as they seek to address the concern that weighs heavily on the minds of outraged Mexican voters.

The goal of dismantling the cartels was the hallmark of outgoing President Felipe Calderon's administration, and the candidates' cautious approach to the drug war suggests a tacit acknowledgment that, at this point at least, it remains an unrealistic one. Read more.

Drug War Merida Initiative: Plan to Train Mexican Officers is Slow to Start

Webb County's (Laredo, Texas) Sheriff is Martin Cuellar, brother of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Guess the congressman's plans aren't going so well.
The Texas Tribune: "In August, the Webb County Sheriff's Office hailed a new cross-border training agreement endorsed by the U.S. State Department as a step toward helping Mexican law enforcement agencies beef up their ranks. But six months later, little more than initial planning has taken place." read more

Rule of Law: Mexico Judicial Police seek to improve their image

Milenio: "The Federal Judicial Police are seeking to renew their image with the launching of a new policing model.

After the dismissal of more than 700 police, nearly 20 percent of its staff, the agency now seeks to improve the expertise of nearly 4,000 agents that work in this division of the PGR (federal Attorney General's office), said the Commissioner of the federal ministerial (judicial or investigative) police, Vidal Díaz Leal Ochoa.

In addition to the purging of staff, there is now a program for national rotation of staff and a strategic model for the evaluation of institutional management that measures the efficiency of each police agent.

Diaz Leal also announced that its officers will be trained by U.S. agents in May as part of the package of support included in the Merida Initiative." Spanish original

Drug War: Military aid to Colombia and Mexico slowly declines

From our colleagues at Just the Facts.

Just the Facts: "The State Department yesterday released the first document outlining its foreign assistance request for 2013. Yesterday's "Executive Budget Summary" provides few details and lacks country-by-country totals for many programs.

Still, it allows us to provide a crude "snapshot" of how U.S. aid to the region looked in 2011, how it's looking this year, and what the Obama administration has in mind for next year. Here is our best estimate of how U.S. military and police aid to Colombia, Mexico and Central America look between 2008 and 2013.

The data show aid to Colombia's armed forces and police declining still further, to levels last seen before 1999, the year before "Plan Colombia" began.

Aid to Mexico's security forces, while still far higher than pre-Mérida Initiative levels, continues to decline from the 2008-2010 period of large-scale purchases of expensive heliopters and aircraft. Aid to Central America's security forces, however, is holding steady." read more

Rule of Law: US Trains Mexico Officials to Carry Out Oral Trials

This is the central problem in the Mexican justice system.

InSight Crime: "The US Justice Department will train thousands of Mexican public servants to carry out oral trials, as Mexico rushes to implement a series of sweeping judicial reforms in time for a 2016 deadline. Up to 8,000 agents from Mexico's Ministry of Public Security, the Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office will be trained to hold oral, public trials. The initiative will be funded under the terms of the US's primary security program for Mexico, the Merida Initiative.

According to a press release from Mexico's Attorney General's Office, the training program, known as the "Diamond Project," will help attorneys and police make the move to Mexico's new accusatorial trial system. This includes training in prosecutorial skills, like delivering opening statements, cross-examination, and using police detectives as witnesses. The public servants will also be trained in investigative techniques, such as how to conduct searches and record evidence, in order to build better cases against suspected criminals." read more

Drug War: United States gives Mexico $ 17 million for drug technology

La Jornada: "As part of the Merida Initiative, the U.S. government has given Mexico 17 million dollars in drug technology to implement the Technology Transfer Network for the Care of Addictions (Renadic). This was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Health (SSA ) during a presentation by the agency.

The objective is to link more than 400 sites attending to addictions at the national level and 32 state observatories on drugs. This will allow the electroninc registration of clinical cases, including those seen in 332 New Life Centers. It will also enable the monitioring of strategic information on drug use, such as knowing the population at risk and age of onset, as well as enable the communication of epidemiological reports.

During the presentation, the Under Secretary of State of the United States, Wendy Sherman, noted that the resources are part of the Merida Initiative, as both nations share a commitment and interest to put in place new programs to reduce drug use." Spanish original

Drug War - Merida Initiative: U.S. Ambassador to Mexico highlights Merida Initiative support for drug abuse prevention

Ah, yes, good old American charity.

Milenio: "The U.S. ambassador (to Mexico), Anthony Wayne, emphasized the support of the Merida Initiative is providing to reduce the demand for drugs in Mexico by providing $18 million for the National Network Against Addictions and New Life  Centers.

The diplomat met Tuesday with the first lady, Margarita Zavala, at the official residence of Los Pinos, to talk about drug policy and support for young migrants. After listening to Zavala talk about how the New Life Centers help families better cope with the problem of drug abuse, Ambassador Wayne said "there is no doubt that New Life has saved many lives and changed so many countless others. We are proud to support this campaign through the Merida Initiative. "

The New Life campaign includes prevention and education at different levels for millions of children and adolescents as well as training for more than half a million health workers, teachers, coaches, and other first responders to drug abuse." Spanish original

Movement for Peace with Justice plans caravan to the U.S. capital

Translated by CIP Intern Michael Kane

CNN Mexico: In August, Mexican poet Javier Sicilia will lead a new caravan, this time to the United States, to call for the U.S. Government to put an end to the illegal arms to Mexico, which “has only left pain and many dead.”

Sicilia announced that the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), which he leads, will prepare a protest in the U.S. capital, in which he hopes various Mexican and U.S. civil organizations will participate.

At the event, protestors will ask the U.S. to stop aid to Mexico earmarked through the Merida Initiative, a plan devised in 2007 by the George W. Bush Administration to contribute to the fight against organized crime, since “it’s not working,” said Sicilia.

The Caravan seeks “to raise awareness within the American, Mexican, and Central American populations of the pain and suffering that this violence has caused us,” that has caused more than 47,000 deaths since December 2006, added Sicilia, who did not specify the route.

“The U.S. should take responsibility for the violence that endures in Mexico, because in a certain way it has contributed to the thousands of deaths caused by weapons which came to our territory illegally,” he said.

The United States, “the number one consumer of drugs” in the world, “has a legal industry, that of arms, which is arming the Mexican criminal,” contended the poet at the end of a press conference presenting Marcel Sisniega’s latest film based on his novel “A través del silencio” (Behind the Silence)

According to Sicilia, the wave of violence unleashed in the country as a result of the dispute between drug cartels for territorial control and their confrontation with security forces has left around “50,000 dead, 10,000 disappeared, and 120,000 displaced.” Spanish original

Drug War - U.S.-Mexico Relations: U.S. Ambassador announces program to support protection of journalists, saying U.S. shares responsibility for combating drug violence

Of course, the ambassador says nothing about U.S. responsibility in creating the drug violence. The U.S. government's theme of "shared responsibility" with Mexico for solving the violence seems to imply that the responsibility is equal. It is hardly equal. Mexico's major challenge is establishing the rule of law--a functioning police and justice system. But it is the U.S.'s prohibition of regulated, legal drug sale and consumption that starts the violence ball rolling by fueling the cartels and their competition. About that, Mexico can do nothing.

La Jornada: "The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Anthony Wayne, said that he is working with the government of Felipe Calderón and civil society groups to protect journalists and human rights defenders. In support of this effort, he will sign an agreement with Freedom House and allocate 5 million dollars over four years. ... He stressed that the goal will be to improve the skills of civil society to monitor the government's efforts in its task of providing emergency tools and support to protect journalists at risk.

... On the other hand, he stressed that neither country alone can solve the drug problem. "We must work together. We share responsibility to combat drug-related violence," he said. ..."As Americans we must be honest about that responsibility and the ways in which our consumption of drugs and the illicit flow of weapons and money into Mexico contribute to the enormous challenge we both face," he added.

... He added that last month the promise of President Barack Obama to deliver to Mexico $500 million in equipment and training was fulfilled in accord with the Merida Initiative, for a total of nearly 900 million overall. He expressed confidence that the commitment to deliver one billion, 400 million dollars would be met or exceeded." Spanish original

Drug War Merida Initiative: In Matamoros, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico met with officials, businessmen and students.

Translated by MexicoBlog

Milenio: "The new U.S. ambassador, Anthony Wayne, visited Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where he discussed  border and security issues with officials, businessmen and students. Wayne told the governor of Tamaulipas, Egidio Torre, that as part of the Merida Initiative, at the beginning of the year, the U.S. government will provide four million dollars in equipment for the State Police Academy and training to use it." Spanish original

Drug War Strategy: The U.S.-Caribbean Shared Security Partnership: Responding to the Growth of Trafficking Narcotics in the Caribbean

Here is how the U.S. government is thinking about the drug war. Testimony of William R. Brownfield, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, before the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, DC, December 15, 2011 

US Department of State: "In the Western Hemisphere, our major initiatives - Merida, the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), the Colombian Strategic Development Initiative (CSDI), and CBSI – are partnerships that provide us with the framework to collaborate with other governments and jointly pursue our overall strategic goal to improve citizen safety and security. This focus on citizen safety and security partnerships draws on important lessons learned from our experience with Plan Colombia where, over time, it became clear that dismantling the drug cartels was one, but not the only step necessary to reduce crime and strengthen security.

We recognize that only by extending the rule of law, increasing the reach of the state, and reforming criminal justice institutions could effective security take root in Colombia. We also learned that U.S. resources alone would not get the job done, that strong partners capable of providing the political will and leadership to undertake the combined security, counternarcotics, rule of law and economic development programs are required." read more

Drug War Merida Initiative: $1 Million Funding for Culture of Lawfulness Programs in Mexico

targetednews.com: "The U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs ... expects to award a maximum of four discretionary grants for implementing the Culture of Lawfulness programs in Mexico. ... The estimated total program funding available was cited as $1 million. This funding opportunity is open to non-profits.

A funding opportunity notice from the (State Department) Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs states: "The overall objective of the Culture of Lawfulness program, which is funded by the Merida Initiative, is to instill a sense of individual responsibility for upholding the rule of law in Mexico and support the ability of Mexico's citizens to participate in the law enforcement process. " read more

Drug War Strategy: Mexico Notes Shortcomings of Merida Initiative

InSight Crime: "Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs has said that the United States’ multi-million dollar foreign assistance package known as the Merida Inititative has not turned out as the country had hoped.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Patricia Espinosa delivered some moderate criticism of the US aid package in her appearance yesterday before the Mexican House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee. In her testimony, the Mexican diplomat claimed that Plan Merida has not produced the anticipated results, and that its delivery has been "slower than we would have liked."" read more