U.S., Mexico prepare new security deal to replace Merida Initiative

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

October 7, 2021
5:16 PM CDT
Last Updated 5 hours ago
Americas

By Dave Graham and Drazen Jorgic

4 minute read

MEXICO CITY, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico are hashing out a security arrangement to replace the Merida Initiative that will focus on exchanging information and the root causes of violence, in a bid to soothe bilateral friction, Mexican government sources and U.S. officials said.

Key elements of the new agreement will be up for negotiation on Friday during U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Mexico City, where the Biden administration will hold its first U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue.

Security cooperation between the neighbors suffered a major blow last October, when U.S. anti-narcotics agents arrested former Mexican defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos, infuriating the Mexican government. Cienfuegos was released but the arrest strained ties and cut down security cooperation.

Two Mexican government officials said the new agreement will replace the multibillion-dollar Merida Initiative, a plan that was launched in 2007 and initially gave U.S. military aid to Mexico in the fight against drug cartels.




Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-sees-us-security-deal-replace-merida-initiative-sources-2021-10-07/

[monkeyman1]

1. don't know what to think on this one ? good or bad ?

U.S. -MEXICO relations been so jack -up for so many years !

[Judi Lynn]

2. Here's a review of the Merida Initiative published in 2018:

10 Years of the Mérida Initiative: Violence and Corruption
MERIDA INITIATIVE

26 DEC 2018 BY ANNA GRACE

The Mérida Initiative celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Yet since it began providing funding for security in Mexico, problems to do with violence and institutionalized corruption have worsened, suggesting flaws in both the approach and implementation of the Initiative.

The origins of the Mérida Initiative, a bilateral security cooperation agreement between Mexico and the United States, hark back to 2007 when former president Felipe Calderón appealed to the administration of President George W. Bush for assistance in tackling drugs and arms trafficking.

Since signing the agreement, the Mexican government has received nearly $2.9 billion in assistance from the United States. This assistance has supported the purchase of military equipment; training for judiciary personnel and improvement of courtroom infrastructure; military training along Mexico’s southern border; and the implementation of crime prevention programs.

Critics state that the Initiative focuses too heavily on the use of military forces to tackle organized crime. US aid to the program supported former President Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs, which led to a spike in homicide rates across the country that continue to rise today.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/merida-initiative-failings-violence-corruption/

~ ~ ~

Remarkable article written soon after Bush got the Merida Initiative going. Clearly a lot of US grifters saw there was big money to be made:

JULY 16, 20095:49 PMUPDATED 12 YEARS AGO
U.S. security firms vie for Mexican drug war work
By Mica Rosenberg

6 MIN READ


MEXICO CITY, July 16 (Reuters) - As Mexico battles to keep a lid on raging drug war violence, U.S. companies are fighting over millions of dollars in contracts for military equipment and training under a long-promised U.S aid package.

Private U.S. security firms will get the bulk of a $1.4 billion package pledged by the United States in 2007 to help its southern neighbor crush rampant drug gang carnage. Only a fraction of the aid has been delivered so far.

Almost all of an initial $400 million tranche approved by the U.S. Congress in 2008 and being released bit by bit to buy helicopters and inspection gear and train Mexican police will be doled out to 30 or 40 U.S. companies, said a U.S. embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The state-of-the art equipment, promised by former President George W. Bush at a meeting with President Felipe Calderon in the colonial city of Merida, is badly needed in Mexico as the death toll from a 2 1/2-year drug war tops 12,800.

"We would love to get in on some of that Merida money," said Scott Newman, an executive from Texas firm Texcalibur, which specializes in bulletproofing cars used in war zones.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN16445904

(My bolding.)

Here's a review of the hideous Merida Initiative published in 2018: