Over 100 Groups Call on Obama & Mesoamerican Leaders to Tackle Root Causes of Violence at SICA

By CIP Americas with several others and signed by more than 145 organizations

Dear Honorable:

President Barack Obama

President Enrique Peña Nieto

President Laura Chinchilla

President Otto Pérez Molina

President Porfirio Lobo

President Mauricio Funes

President Daniel Ortega

President Ricardo Martinelli

Attorney General & Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington

April 30, 2013

We, the undersigned civil society organizations from throughout the region, are writing to you on the eve of your meetings in Mexico and at the Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Costa Rica.We welcome the opportunity for our nations to discuss cooperation on critical cross-border issues and urge our States to address our concerns about the dire human rights crisis in Mesoamerica.

Our organizations have documented an alarming increase in violence and human rights violations. While we recognize that transnational crime and drug trafficking play a role in this violence, we call on our governments to acknowledge that failed security policies that have militarized citizen security have only exacerbated the problem, and are directly contributing to increased human suffering in the region.

It is time to refocus regional dialogue and resource investment to address the root causes of violence,

understanding that for many citizens and communities, drug trafficking is not the principal cause of insecurity. Harmful “development” policies have similarly caused increased conflict and abuses, while forced migration and criminalization of migrants and human rights activists continues to divide families. Most importantly, the region’s challenges must be addressed without violating fundamental rights and human dignity.

US President Obama to discuss trade in Mexico

BBC
May 2, 2013

US President Barack Obama is travelling to Mexico on Thursday for talks expected to focus on bilateral trade.

Mexico is the third largest trade partner of the US and the president has said he is keen to discuss job creation on both sides of the border with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto.

President Obama's planned immigration reform is also likely to feature high on the agenda.

During the three-day trip the president will also visit Costa Rica.

Policy shift

US National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said strong economic ties between Mexico and the US had been overshadowed by a focus on security in the past, but that Thursday's trip would attempt to redress the balance.

That sentiment was echoed by Sergio Alcocer, Mexico's Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, who said the two presidents would discuss "the benefits and the need to re-balance and diversify the relationship" between Mexico and the US.

It will be the second meeting between the US leader and Mr Pena Nieto, who was invited to the White House even before he was sworn in on 1 December 2012.  Read more. 

The Mexico Bubble

Foreign Policy 
By John Ackerman

When U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Mexico this Thursday for his first summit with new President Enrique Peña Nieto, he's going to hear a lot about the country's uptick in international portfolio investment, its recent discovery of vast new petroleum reserves, and its new political grand bargain, called the "Pact for Mexico," in which the leaders of the three largest political parties have gone behind closed doors to hammer out deals on tax, education, energy, banking and telecom reform, among other areas.

But instead of giving priority to the interests of Wall Street and of Mexico's discredited political class, Obama should turn his gaze to Main Street and listen to the voices of the Mexican people on both sides of the Rio Grande. Otherwise, he risks committing the United States to a highly risky political game run by Latin American cronies that could soon end in disaster, with an impact that could be felt across North America. Read more. 

U.S., Mexico to talk trade barriers during Obama visit

Special for USA TODAY
By David Agren
May 1, 2013

MEXICO CITY — Delivery trucks from Mexico line up early in the morning at the border crossing in Tijuana, where 20 million flat-screen TVs were manufactured last year.

Traffic studies found cargo trucks, even empty ones, wait 90 minutes on average to cross into the USA as U.S. Customs agents check vehicles for contraband, and then spend at least an hour waiting to get back into Tijuana.

"Trucks that are a critical element of a competitive supply chain may spend three to four hours waiting in line during a day," says Kenn Morris, president of the Crossborder Group, a San Diego consultancy, which commissioned the traffic studies. "These kinds of delays are both too typical and really strangle border economies … and put more barriers between what should be two strong economic partners."

Improving on the way goods flow from Mexico to the USA is what President Enrique Peña Nieto intends to emphasize Thursday when President Obama visits Mexico City.  Read more. 

A Healthy Future for Immigrant Children Is a Healthy Future for the Nation

Huffington Post 
By Irwin Redlener
April 30, 2013

After years of postponing the inevitable, the U.S. is finally on the verge of reforming our dysfunctional immigration policies. For millions of immigrant families who have committed themselves to building better lives for themselves and their communities, change cannot come too soon. And for the children in these families, their hopes for the future are very much part of America's future.

Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control. This population was explicitly excluded from the benefits of the president's health reform initiative. Read more. 

Global labor protests mark May Day

USAToday
May 1, 2013

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico — Protesters armed with pipes, spray paint and slingshots marched through this state capital south of Mexico City, vandalizing public buildings to express opposition to teacher competency exams and the revoking of the right to sell their jobs to the highest bidder.

The Mexico teachers protest was among many demonstrations worldwide for May Day, a day when labor unions traditionally head to the streets to demand more pay and benefits and job protections.  Read more. Read more. 

U.S. Image Rebounds in Mexico: Fewer See Better Life North of the Border, but 35% Would Migrate

PEW Research Global Project 
April 29, 2013

On the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Mexico, the United States is enjoying a resurgence of good will among the Mexican public, with a clear majority favorably inclined toward their northern neighbor and more now expressing confidence in Obama.

A national opinion survey of Mexico by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 4-17 among 1,000 adults, finds that roughly two-thirds (66%) of Mexicans have a favorable opinion of the U.S. – up from 56% a year ago and dramatically higher than it was following the passage of Arizona’s restrictive immigration law in 2010, when favorable Mexican attitudes toward the United States slipped to 44%.  Read more.