| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2008 
Mexico Drug Crime Fight 'Unprecedented', Threat to US: Rice
 Agence France-Presse
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| | U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice waves as she arrives in Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. Condoleezza Rice is on a two-day visit to Mexico. (AP/Miguel Tovar) | | |
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that Mexico has an up-hill battle in its fight against drug crime, which is also affecting the United States.
"Mexico faces unprecedented difficulties in terms of crime and the links between crime and drugs, and obviously that have - given our long, shared border - significant implications for the United States as well," Rice said to journalists on the way to Mexico, where she arrived late Wednesday for talks with her Mexican counterpart.
High on the agenda between Rice and Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa is the Merida Initiative, a 400-million-dollar US anti-drug crime aid package signed into law in June by President George W. Bush.
Mexican officials, including President Felipe Calderon, have called for the rapid release of resources contained in the package - mostly helicopters and surveillance airplanes.
"The money will start to flow because this is a national security priority for Mexico and it's a national security priority for the United States," Rice said. "We consider it to be an initiative for which there is urgency."
Almost 4,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since Calderon took office some two years ago, despite a government crackdown involving the deployment of 36,000 troops across the country.
The violence includes gruesome beheadings, kidnappings and massacres, particularly in northern areas bordering the United States.
Rice underlined Wednesday that US officials were still working with Mexico to finalize documents on the delivery of the technical assistance.
"I think it (the aid release) will be sooner than weeks," added Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon, traveling with Rice.
High security measures were in place for the two-day talks in the tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta, including the deployment of 60 police officers, following an October 11 attack on the US consulate in Monterrey, south of the Texas border. A second incident where shots were fired nearby led to a brief closure of the consulate.
The talks would cover a broad range of issues including Mexico's UN security council role, development, trade as well as law enforcement, Rice said.
A Mexican proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs and another to legalize marijuana were also expected to be discussed, as Mexican officials consider alternative methods for stemming drug crime.
More than 1,000 have died in suspected drug-linked violence in northern border areas this year, including the volatile cities of Tijuana, across from San Diego, and Ciudad Juarez, further east, across from El Paso in the United States.
US drug chief John Walters said last week in Mexico City that drug-related violence was spilling across the Mexican border into the United States.
Rice had a private dinner with Espinosa and other officials late Wednesday before further talks and a news conference on Thursday. |
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