The Mexican government's war with the drug cartels under the Calderón administration, which includes tens of thousands of soldiers, has led to an explosion of violence in the region along the American border. In an attempt to aid the Mexican government, the US State Department launched the Merida Initiative, or Plan Mexico, in 2007. This programme aims to provide US$1.4 billion in aid to Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic and Haiti for counter-narcotics programs. This assistance includes arms, training and equipment for the military and police forces. Congress' Government Accountability Office reported in early December 2009, however, that of the US$830.42 million obligated to specific projects by September 30, 2009, only 2 percent, or US$26.27 million, had actually been spent.

Despite decades of mistrust between the two nations, Calderón came to power on a platform of improving ties between the United States and Mexico. Senator Richard G. Lugar, of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee, argued in late 2007 that the US needed to capitalize upon this new openness, as the Mexican President's "willingness to work with the United States is unprecedented on issues of security, crime, and drugs."  The Bush administration embraced this position and put its weight behind the Plan. Through a closer security relationship, the two governments hoped to subdue the cartels and stem the flow of illicit narcotics across the border. The Merida Initiative has thus been touted in some corners as a bold new step in the Mexo-American relationship.

Human rights advocates argue that there is a darker side to the Merida Initiative, however, as the program has come under criticism for its role in supporting human rights abuses in Mexico.  The American Senate attached a condition to the aid bill calling for 15 percent of the funds to be conditional on the Mexican government meeting certain human rights standards. Nevertheless, the Mexican Human Rights Commission has seen a 600 percent increase in reports of human rights violations, with numerous sources accusing the military of torture, rape and various other abuses.  To date, Calderón has resisted attempts to bring military crimes into civilian courts. Denise Dresser, who is a contributing writer to Opinion, a columnist for the newspaper Reforma and a professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, argued in the LA Times that "unless the Obama administration insists that [legal accountability and human rights] requirements be met, the Merida Initiative will simply be financing impunity."

Curbing the power of the drug cartels and stemming the flow of drugs across the border is an important project, one in which both Mexico and the United States have a fundamental interest. Conversely, the means through which the goals of the Merida Initiative are realized are also of great importance. The danger of substituting official violence for illicit will continue to be an issue of salience as the programme unfolds.

Related

• Past ITS: "Questioning the Role of the Military in the Mexican War on Drugs"
  
• Wilson Centre: Merida Initiative Site Index
• US State Department: Mexico and the Merida Initiative
  
• From the PNA Library: America's Program "CIP Americas Program Criticizes State Department Report on Human Rights Under the Merida Initiative"
  
• From the PNA Library: Centre for Strategic and International Studies "Trafficking in the Mesoamerican Corridor: A Threat to Regional and Human Security"
  

(Image Credit: Wikimedia User Dual Freq)