The Merida Initiative: United States-Mexico-Central America Security Cooperation
November 16, 2007
Thomas A. Shannon
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Foreign Press Center Briefing
Washington, DC
MODERATOR: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Washington Foreign Press Center. Today we have with us Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon. And welcome also to our audience in Mexico City (inaudible). Without further ado, I'll leave it to Assistant Secretary Shannon to talk to you today about the Merida Initiative. He has brief opening remarks, and then we'll go to questions: three here, two in Mexico City, and then we'll come back and forth for others as we have time. Thanks.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Good afternoon. Thank you all very much for taking the time to be here today, and also in Mexico City. I've been told that I have to speak in English today for reasons of transcribing, but I'm also told that there is interpretation available. If, for whatever reason that's a problem, please let me know and then I will break the rules. But my intention is not to break the rules -- again, for purposes of making sure we come up with a proper transcript.
Let me just start briefly by saying, as you know, President Bush has in his supplemental budget request to the U.S. Congress has requested $550 million for the Merida Initiative, 500 million of which would be used to purchase equipment and training for different entities of the Government of Mexico, and 50 million would purchase equipment and training for the different governments of Central America, to assist these governments in the larger fight against organized crime and drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America.
The impetus for the Merida Initiative emerged from President Bush's trip to Latin America in March, and especially from his conversations in Guatemala and in Mexico with Presidents Berger and Presidents Calderon. During that trip and during those conversations, the importance and the danger of the security threat presented to democratic states by organized crime was emphasized in graphic and dramatic ways. And having seen the urgent measures taken in Mexico by President Calderon to assist police in fighting drug trafficking, especially the deployment of the military, and a request for U.S. assistance.
We determined that this request was urgent, that it was an emergency and that the United States needed to find ways to work with the Government of Mexico and the governments of Central America to understand and define the threats we face as common threats, to acknowledge shared responsibilities, and to fashion a common strategy and approach in which the United States, Mexico and the countries of Central America would commit resources and personnel to fight organized crime.
Again, we consider this to be a crucial initiative in the region. We believe it is essential for the United States to respond positively to this request for assistance from the Government of Mexico and the governments of Central America. But we believe that in responding positively, the United States has an opportunity to reshape the strategic nature of our relationship with Mexico and the countries of Central America and build relationships of partnership and cooperation and collaboration which, while having an immediate and important impact in the fight against organized crime and addressing national security interests, also has the potential for reshaping our bilateral relationships and improving cooperation across a broad spectrum of activities.
But let me stop there. As you know, I have been up on the Hill these past two days along with Assistant Secretary of State David Johnson testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We've had very useful conversations with our Congress. I believe they've been an important and positive start. We look forward to having more conversations both in hearings and technically at staff levels. We also expect there to be visits by Mexican and Central American authorities to Washington and visits by members of Congress and staff members of Congress to Mexico and Central America to have a better understanding of the threat faced. And we believe this process will help lay a very strong groundwork of information and understanding as the Congress prepares to consider the supplemental request.
So let me stop there, and I'll take your questions.
MODERATOR: Okay. Before -- please state your name and news organization, and also please remember that the press conference is about the Merida Initiative.
Ruben.
QUESTION: Yes, Mr. Secretary, Ruben Barrera with the Mexican News Agency Notimex. You state again the urgent nature of this supplemental request. You stated that yesterday at the Senate and in the House the day before. Nevertheless, things in Mexico seem to be some type of, you know, better for the government right now after the type of violence that we saw some months ago, especially Michoacan, Vera Cruz. So could you explain, you know, what is the real urgency for you guys to have this money appropriated? Is that it is because you feel that Mexico, the government will have been able to sustain this (inaudible) for a long time? It is that you expect any time for reaction from this criminal organization? I mean, could you put this urgency in perspective?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Thank you for the question. As we developed the Merida Initiative in our consultations with the Government of Mexico and the governments of Central America, we believed that we had to identify a funding vehicle that would make funds available as quickly as possible. Our 2008 budget request had already gone up to our Congress, was already being worked on in the appropriations committees, and our 2009 budget request would not be going up until the new year and would not be considered the Congress until quite late in 2008. So we thought that both the 2008 budget and the 2009 budget were not going to be appropriate vehicles. We needed to find something that would move it as quickly as possible.
And the reason we needed a funding vehicle that would move as quickly as possible is because of the urgent nature of the request we received from the governments of Central America and the Government of Mexico, and what we considered to be the evidence on the ground. The surge in violence that we saw in Mexico, the fact that over 250 Mexican police and military personnel have been killed so far this year and several thousand Mexican civilians and the deployment of Mexican military to 10 of Mexico's 32 states, from our point of view, was clear -- a clear indication of the urgent nature of the threat faced.
And although we recognize that in the -- that violence moves in waves, you know, during this kind of conflict, that the urgent nature of the conflict has not lessened. And we believe that it is important that the United States send a very clear signal to our partners in Mexico, to our partners in Central America, that we do understand the urgency of the situation and that we're prepared to respond in an urgent fashion, and for that reason we thought the supplemental request the best vehicle to do so.
QUESTION: Jose Diaz-Briseno with Reforma newspaper. What we've seen in the past hearings at Congress is this -- these U.S. congressmen reminding us of incidents of corruption in Mexican police and Mexican political class from ten years ago. Do you think it would be useful for President Calderon, for him to visit Washington and lobby before the congressmen and the Senate?
And second, how many people are you estimating would be training under the proposal?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: From our point of view, the degree to which, you know, our Congress can get as clear a picture as possible about what is happening in Mexico and Central America will help in a very important way in their consideration of our supplemental budget request. There's a variety of ways for this to happen.
Obviously, having Mexican officials come to Washington to meet with representatives is always one good way to communicate. But my own point of view is that it's even more important for members of our Congress, and especially staff members of Congress, to travel to Mexico and to have an opportunity to see the situation with their own eyes, to be able to speak directly to Mexican officials in Mexico, to speak to Mexican law enforcement officers, to speak to Mexican citizens, to get a broader understanding of the challenge that Mexico faces.
And in that regard, when Deputy Secretary Negroponte and I were in Mexico recently, we had an opportunity to speak with a variety of high-level Mexican officials and underscored the importance of this kind of outreach to our Congress. And this is well understood. And I think, as I said, we're going to be seeing a lot of this kind of travel back and forth between our two countries as the Congress gets deeper into its consideration of the supplemental request.
I'm sorry, what was the --
QUESTION: The number of trainees.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: We don't have estimates in terms of the number of trainees yet, simply because we don't know exactly how much the Congress is going to give us and so we don't want to create expectations that then, for whatever reason, we're not going to be able to meet. But the important point is that as we construct it, the Merida Initiative, you know, the two main components are equipment and training. And the training component will be an important component because it's really build around institution building and capacity building because, from our point of view, the way you fight organized crime, the way you fight corruption and the way you promote human rights is by building institutions that are transparent and accountable.
MODERATOR: Maria.
QUESTION: Thank you. Maria Pe?a with EFE News Services. Going back to the congressional process, there's been three hearings since the initiative was launched in October 22nd and over and over again they're saying -- Democrats are saying in particular that they're concerned about oversight and concerned about how the resources could end up in the wrong hands, in criminal hands. So what are you doing to appease their concern that the resources, the equipment and the training won't eventually, you know, end up in criminal hands and defeat the purpose of this initiative? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: There have been two hearings, one in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one in the Senate Foreign Relations. We have, however, done a series of informal briefings for the different appropriations staffs, for the staffs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then a number of interested representatives and senators. So our reach is pretty significant and we expect that it's going to be more significant. We expect further hearings, especially as we get into the new year and closer to consideration of the supplemental request.
In regard to the issue of oversight, U.S. training and equipment is extended to countries under what we call letters of agreement. And these letters of agreement all have end-use monitoring clauses in them that allow us to have some understanding of how equipment is used and how training is used. And we do this a lot. We do this kind of training. We extend this kind of equipment in a variety of places around the world and we're pretty good at the oversight and we're pretty good at being able to keep the Congress informed about who is getting what equipment and how it's being used.
I would note though, and this is why I think your question is an important one, because we received several of these questions while we were up on the Hill, at the end of the day, drug trafficking and the other activity of organized crime is very lucrative business. They have a lot of money at their disposal and typically they can buy the equipment they need. They don't need to take it from stocks that the Government of Mexico or the government of Central America is using. So in that regard, our purpose is to make sure that as we work together with our colleagues in Mexico and in Central America that the equipment and training we have is transferred in a way that's transparent and accountable. And again, because of the very public nature of this, it will be transparent and accountable not only to us but to the citizens of the countries with whom we're sharing the equipment and training.
MODERATOR: Okay, we're going to take our next question from Mexico City.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon, sir. I'm Maria Gomez of XEW Radio Mexico. I would like to know (inaudible) the Government of Mexico when they requested to launch this initiative, what was the argument of the Mexican Government? What is (inaudible) regarding this initiative? And also we would like to know if this initiative has to do with drug trafficking, why are we talking about including actions against terrorism and mediation? Thank you very much.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Okay, thank you very much. The base document for this agreement at this point is the joint declaration that was issued the day the President sent his supplemental request to the Congress. But in the course of the discussions in Merida between President Bush and President Calderon, in follow-on discussions between Foreign Secretary Espinosa and Secretary Rice, and then in meetings that we have held here in the United States but also in Mexico, the point was not only to identify common threats but also shared responsibilities and to determine not only what kind of support we could be providing the Government of Mexico but also what else the United States needed to be doing in the United States in order to connect in a more positive and effective way with the actions of the Government of Mexico and the governments of Central America.
And the Government of Mexico, aside from the equipment and training that they helped identify, also identified several other area where they thought the United States could improve our own action in order to enhance our combined effort. One is addressing the problem of illegal weapons trafficking from the United States into Mexico. The other was improvement in money laundering activities in the United States and especially the movement of bulk currency from the United States to Mexico. Another area that was discussed was improved prosecution of marijuana traffickers along the border. And all of these issues are addressed in our National Southwest Border Strategy and are being funded through, I believe, a $1.9 billion border security bill.
As the United States and Mexico work together on the Merida Initiative, we both recognize that as part of our shared responsibilities we have special things we can do in our national territories but also together along our common frontier. And in the course of fighting organized crime and in the course of fighting drug cartels and the movement of contraband in both directions across the frontier, we recognize that we are attempting to break down structures and institutions that could very easily be used for the purposes of terrorism. And for this reason, we understand that the fight against organized crime, the fight against drug trafficking and the fight against cartels and contraband not only improves the security of both countries in law enforcement terms but also in broader national security terms.
MODERATOR: Okay, we'll take a second question from Mexico City, please.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Mr. Under Secretary, I would like to know basically what is it that the United States has asked in exchange from Mexico in order to support it in fighting organized crime and drug trafficking. On the other hand, talking about transparency, I want to know if this training that you're making reference to, if this means the United States will be in charge only of training the police and commands in Mexico and in Central America, or how is this training going to take place? What type of programs are the ones that are going to be used?
And finally, a lot has been questioned about the matter of corruption existing in Mexico and in Central America. Everything -- what is it that the United States Government is asking from these nations in order to end (inaudible) corruption?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: In regard to the last part of your question, the issue of corruption, corruption, like organized crime and drug trafficking, knows no national boundaries. It's a threat to the United States as much as it is a threat to Mexico and Central America. And we have learned over time that the way you address corruption is by shining a light on it and by making sure that you have institutions that, as I've mentioned before, are transparent and accountable, but also that you create law enforcement structures and systems that have a system of internal auditing and inspection and a capability of taking the results of internal auditing and inspection, and prosecuting those who are found to be acting in a corrupt fashion.
And one of the important things that President Calderon is doing is a larger police reform at the federal level, and then working through constitutional reforms to allow reforms at the federal level to be expedited rapidly at state and local levels. This is a huge challenge. It's recognized as such by the Government of Mexico. It's recognized as such by President Calderon. But we understand it as an essential and as a challenge that has to be met. And we believe that by working with our Mexican counterparts that we will enhance their ability to construct police systems that have clear structures, clear guidelines for behavior, and also the internal capacity to conduct the auditing and inspection necessary to identify corruption.
And but ultimately, this is a Mexican struggle and a Central American struggle within your own institutions, just as it is an American struggle or a U.S. struggle within our institutions.
In terms of what we've asked, this agreement is about itself. It's about the Merida Initiative. It's about fighting organized crime and fighting drug cartels. And there's no quid pro quo here. We believe that, as I mentioned earlier, this is a moment in which both the United States and Mexico are beginning to see and understand each other in a more strategic way, beginning to recognize that we can be partners in success as opposed to accomplices in failure, and that this is an important moment and that the benefits that we will gain from this initiative lie in the initiative itself.
MODERATOR: Okay, Nestor. Back to Washington. Nestor.
QUESTION: Nestor Ikeda, an Associated Press correspondent for Latin America. I have a question on this Central American component in this plan. Is the Central America component part of the Merida Initiative? And that is the first question.
The other question is in regard to the countries that are going to be receiving this support from the U.S. and if this support -- the administration is recognizing the criticisms from some congressmen that it is very small compared to ten times that you are offering to Mexico.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: In regard to the first part of the question, the Central American portion is part of the Merida Initiative, although the $50 million that we have asked for for Central America would be spent in the Central American countries. But it's important to recognize that Mexico has a very real interest in what's taking place in Central America. In fact, President Calderon in a meeting in Campeche for the larger Plan Puebla Panama did have a discussion with Central American presidents regarding security issues. And from that discussion, Central Americans began an effort to draft a larger Central American security strategy which formed part of U.S. discussions with Central America on security issues, a strategy which has now been approved by Central America's public security ministers and will soon be approved by Central American heads of government, and that that strategy will allow us to engage in a deeper discussion with the Central American countries about what more we can do.
In regard to the countries that would be receiving the benefits of the 50 million that we've requested, all Central American countries would be receiving benefits from this. There are specific amounts of money that would be for training and equipment that would be identified for all the countries in Central America, which this includes Panama and Belize. But also, we will have some funds that would be spent on a regional basis as we look to enhance the ability of Central American law enforcement agencies to communicate with each other and share information as they fight transnational organized crime cartels.
In terms of the size of -- or the difference in the size of the packages, this really reflects where we are in our discussions with both countries. With Mexico, we had kind of a clear understanding of strategy fairly early on and we were able to work closely at a technical level to identify what equipment and training and other resources needed to be provided to Mexico. With Central America, as I noted, following the meeting that Mexico had with the heads of government of Central America, we had to first construct a broader Central American security dialogue through the Central American integration system, and then have our own U.S.-Central American security dialogue.
And based on that security dialogue, we were able to identify three broad priorities for our cooperation, which is: first, fighting organized crime and drug cartels; secondly, fighting the trafficking in illegal weapons; and third, fighting gangs in Central America and the United States. And then based on that, once we have a final approved security strategy for Central America, we will begin the same kinds of technical conversations with the Central Americans that we had with Mexico. And it's our hope that, based on that, in out-year budgets we will be able to request additional funds for Central America.
MODERATOR: Okay, we're going to go back to Mexico City for the next question.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I'm Silvia Otero from El Universal newspaper. Mr. Under Secretary, at the beginning of your presentation, you were stating that there was a real emergency in Mexico that comes from the need of having this additional budget that President Bush is requesting from the Congress. So under your perspective of the threat that organized crime represents in Mexico, is the Merida Initiative when it will be applied, Mexico will be losing its battle against the drug cartels?
And the second question, if you'll allow me, is the Congress -- the representatives of your country have emphasized that these funds could be badly used given the level of corruption that we have in Mexico. How can you fight back this trend and how are you trying to make the congressmen understand that these funds are necessary? Are you taking into consideration the level of risk that organized crime represents for Mexico and the United States? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Thank you very much for that question. In regard to the first part of the question, it's evident that President Calderon and his government, and I believe the Mexican people, have decided that they have to fight organized crime and drug cartels, that this is not a phenomenon that can be tolerated, that it threatens the democratic state in Mexico, it threatens the democratic state in Central America, it threatens the national security of the United States, Mexico and the countries of Central America.
And in this regard, I believe that the administration of President Calderon and the Mexican people will win this fight. The question is how quickly, and can the United States find a way to be a partner in this victory. I believe that it's important for the United States to be part of this fight because, number one, we're part of the cause of the problem that Mexico faces today because of the demand for drugs in the United States, because of weapons that flow out of the United States into Mexico and because of laundered funds that flow out of the United States back into Mexico. We have a shared responsibility and therefore we believe there's a moral imperative to be involved. This is one of the reasons the President has acted in the way that he has.
But also, we believe that through our involvement we will enhance the ability of the Government of Mexico to fight organized crime, to do it more quickly, to do it at less cost both in terms of money and in blood. And we think this is important.
I'm sorry, I missed the second part of the question.
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Yes, thank you. I'm sorry. The representatives in your country have argued that these funds are not being used adequately considering the level of corruption that we have in Mexico. How are you going to change this perception? What is it that Mexico has to do in order to change this perception also?
And also, another question that I had overlooked -- I'm sorry, I'm sorry. If it's not approved, what will happen? Finally, are you going to look other ways, other alternatives? Because it seems that this will be the panacea for Mexico and if these funds are not allocated, then what are you going to do?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: It's important to underscore that these funds will not be a panacea. (Laughter.) I mean, from our point of view, they're terribly important. But as I indicated, I think the Government of Mexico, President Calderon and the people of Mexico have made a decision to fight organized crime and that this fight is going to take place and it is the kind of fight that Mexico can win. But as I noted, I think the United States has a responsibility to be present in this.
In regard to the issue of concerns raised in our Congress about corruption and about the use of equipment and training and other resources, this is not an unusual concern in our Congress. Our Congress has the responsibility to the taxpayers to make sure that foreign assistance monies are used in an effective and efficient way and used for purposes that the Congress itself has identified. This is part of the Congress' oversight role. It's something that Congress does in all of our foreign assistance programs, whether they be Colombia, Iraq, Afghanistan or even in our social development and economic development programs.
Corruption is not an unusual concern either of our Congress. And this is one of the reasons why, as I noted earlier, our training and assistance is done through formal letters of agreement that do have end-use monitoring and oversight mechanisms built into them that allow us and our partner government to work together to show our Congress that the resources and the training are being used in a way that's understandable and that meets the guidelines established by the Congress. And we will, you know, continue to talk with our Congress and with staff members in our Congress to make sure they have all the information they believe is necessary for them to make that determination.
MODERATOR: Come back to Washington. Jesus.
QUESTION: Thank you. Can we broke the rules? Let me ask in Spanish this question. (In Spanish.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Very briefly, the question referred to vetting and concern expressed in the Senate about equipment that would be going to branches of the Mexican military and how those vetting requirements would be used with a military that historically has been what was described as untouchable, intocable*. And then secondly, having described -- the question was that the Mexican Government has determined that it would not accept conditions on this aid and that if, for whatever reason, the package were not passed, what would be our reaction to the purchase by Mexico of equipment from foreign countries, such as Russia and other countries.
In regard to the vetting, again, you know, a supplemental request has to be approved by our Congress. Once it is approved by our Congress, we can then implement the letters of agreement and other documents that will be necessary to provide this kind of equipment and then to provide the necessary training for these aircraft. Vetting requirements will be part of it. It won't be anything new in terms of our training relationship with some aspects of the Mexican military. And so I personally don't see this as a difficult obstacle or hurdle. In fact, I think it is part of an increasingly improved relationship between the Mexican armed forces and difference branches of the United States military. And I personally don't see this as a major obstacle.
In regard to the second question, obviously we're just at the beginning of a congressional process. We've submitted our supplemental request. We are beginning the process of informing the Congress about the request, our thinking behind it, the way in which we're going to structure it. But the Congress is an independent branch of government. It can act as it sees fit. And so we will work with it as we move forward in regard to any effort to impose conditions on aspects of the aid.
However, irrespective of what our Congress does, I think our publics will impose conditions because our publics are going to want to see that this assistance is used effectively and efficiently. And I think that ultimately is the key condition. In other words, as we move forward in this program, are we going to be successful in fighting organized crime? Are we going to be successful in reducing the flow of drug trafficking? Are we going to be successful in creating institutions that are transparent and accountable? Are we going to be successful in promoting human rights and fighting corruption? Those will be the political conditions that both of our electorates impose upon us.
QUESTION: But you didn't respond to my question. Will the U.S. be able to accept if Mexico buy equipment, military equipment, from other countries?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Oh, that's a decision for Mexico to make. And Mexico has purchased equipment from other countries. It flies a variety of Russian aircraft. You know, that is a sovereign decision of Mexico and we would respect that.
MODERATOR: Okay. We'll take one last question from Jose Carre?o in the back and then we'll have to proceed.
QUESTION: Jose Carre?o, El Universal. In Wednesday you mentioned that the United States would take advantage of the lessons that you learned in Colombia when putting in practice this project. Which are the specific lessons that you learned in Colombia that will be used in Mexico?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: How long are you here for? (Laughter.) First of all, it's important to understand something. There's a big difference between Plan Colombia and the Merida Initiative, okay. Plan Colombia had components to it -- eradication, the fight against the FARC and the ELN and paramilitaries -- that the Merida Initiative does not have. The Merida Initiative is a much more tightly focused program with the vast majority of the resources flowing to civilian institutions.
But we learned several things in Colombia that I think are important. First, when you fight drug trafficking and when you fight organized crime, it's not just a question of eradication or interrupting the transit of goods. It is a recognition that organized crime groups today, in order to have an imperative to maintain control over areas, and therefore they seek to gain control through violence and through corruption of institutions. And that in order to address that, you have to do more than eradicate, you have to do more than interdict. You have to focus on building institutions that respond democratically to communities and cities and that are transparent and accountable and that can displace organized crime. And that means attacking not only the leaders of organized crime, but attacking the structures that these leaders use to manage their criminal operations.
And I think the second lesson is that in order for -- since organized crime is about controlling territory and then reaping profit from all the illegal activities in that territory, it's about working with communities. Because ultimately, the military and the police, while they can attack organized crime institutions in an area, need to have the support of the communities that they're operating in in order to successfully win back control. Because it's the people who live in these communities who have the greatest interest in maintaining control of these communities and pushing out organized crime.
And this requires, I think, a lot of communication with the communities and areas in which this fight against organized crime is being conducted. In other words, it has to be democratic, it has to be open, it has to be transparent and it has to be accountable.
MODERATOR: Okay, thank you for joining us, Assistant Secretary Shannon.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Thank you very much.
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