Whack-a-mole Drug War: As U.S.-Mexico Security Ties Deepen, Potential for Backlash Emerges

From 'InSight Crime'

As U.S.-Mexico Security Ties Deepen, Potential for Backlash Emerges: "With the U.S. set to deepen its role in Mexico’s “drug war” and the 2012 elections fast approaching, the Merida Initiative will likely become a political football. Just three years after it began, the future of the security plan could be uncertain.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. government is sending intelligence operatives and retired military personnel to Mexico to assist in counternarcotics operations in the country for the first time. The team will consist of around two dozen Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, C.I.A. officials and former military analysts from the Pentagon’s Northern Command, who will reportedly pair up with Mexican military officials at a joint intelligence fusion center at an undisclosed location. The Times also reports that the U.S. is in the process of negotiating with the Mexican government to allow private security contractors to serve as advisors to a police task force.

The moves are the latest developments in the Merida Initiative (also known as Plan Merida), a $1.4 billion dollar security assistance effort meant to aid Mexico in its fight against drug trafficking organizations....

WIth the aid package only partially in place, the Merida Initiative could be an easier target for its critics, especially as the country heads in to an election year. ...

... organized opposition to President Felipe Calderon’s military-heavy security policy is on the rise. Mexico's peace movement -- a diverse array of civil society organizations led by poet Javier Sicilia -- has repeatedly railed against the prevailing security strategy, and has found widespread support throughout the country in recent months. If the movement continues to pick up steam, it could serve as an ideal wedge point for candidates in the elections seeking to channel populist resentment of Calderon's security policies. In June, Sicilia specifically targeted the Merida Initiative, claiming that the aid made the U.S. complicit in "crimes against humanity" and calling on U.S. activist groups to join in pressuring for an end to it."