United States and Mexico pledge cooperation in fight against drug and arms trafficking

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The new framework, which replaces the Merida Initiative, was set in motion during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Mexico City on Friday. “After 13 years of the Merida Initiative, it is time for a new approach to our security cooperation,” Blinken said during the first High Level Security Dialogue.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who received the secretary at the government palace, had previously declared dead the former strategy. Mexican Chancellor Marcelo Ebrard said, “Goodbye Merida Plan, welcome Bicentennial Understanding!”

At a press conference, Blinken acknowledged that cooperation in the past “relied heavily on security forces.” Therefore, one of the three cornerstones of the plan will be to generate “economic opportunities in underserved communities and regions,” he explained.

Other goals include controlling cross-border crime, with an emphasis on arms trafficking into Mexico, and fighting money laundering and the financing of criminal organizations. “We also need to end impunity and hold human rights violators accountable,” the secretary stressed.

ATTACK THE ROOT

In office since 2018, López Obrador is calling for investments in disadvantaged communities exposed to crime in Mexico and Central America, a policy that he says would also be a way to curb the growing illegal migration to the United States through his country.

A total of 652 Central American migrants, including dozens of minors traveling alone, were detained on Thursday night in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, bordering the United States.

“The only solution is to attack the root causes” of illegal immigration, said Blinken, who advocated a “safe, orderly and humane” flow with a regional perspective.

More than 7,500 Haitians have been expelled in less than 3 weeks by U.S. authorities, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported yesterday. Meanwhile, Mexico has deported some 54,000 migrants this year, according to the NGO Humans Rights Watch (HRW).

“The journey is risky and you will not succeed in getting in. We are working to make sure people understand that and ensuring that they are treated with dignity,” Blinken stressed. The secretary reiterated Washington’s offer to invest US$4 billion in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and southern Mexico.