U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar wants to hear Mexico's rationale for stopping
U.S. law enforcement agencies' direct access to its strategies for fighting drug
cartels.
Mexican government officials acknowledged this week that they were funneling all
contact for U.S. law enforcement through the federal Interior Ministry, the
agency that controls security and domestic policy. The new policy under
President Enrique Pena Nieto marks a dramatic change from his predecessor's
administration, which invited U.S. law enforcement as partners in fusion centers
that integrated Mexican military in an all-out offensive against the drug
cartels.
Cuellar, D-Laredo, said he understands Mexico's desire to establish one point of
contact but wants to ensure that U.S. agencies aren't completely shut out of the
partnership.
"Mexico is still trying to figure out what they want to do about security and
they want to centralize all contact on security," Cuellar said Thursday during a
scheduled event in the Rio Grande Valley. "Why they don't want the U.S. in some
of those fusion centers is something I want to talk to them about. I don't know
if it's a sovereignty issue, but there's so much we can do to help them."
Mexico's changing security policy was at the forefront of a meeting Thursday
between Pena Nieto and President Barack Obama in Mexico City. Obama and Pena
Nieto downplayed the significance of the new policy, saying the U.S. and Mexico
are still cooperating to fight drug trafficking and organized crime, even if the
strategy has changed.
"I agreed to continue our close cooperation on security, even as the nature of
that cooperation will evolve," Obama said at a joint news conference with Pena
Nieto. "It is obviously up to the Mexican people to determine their security
structures and how it engages with the other nations -- including the United
States."
U.S. and Mexican officials billed Obama's first trip to Mexico since beginning
his second term as focused on economics, not security.
Cuellar, an early supporter of Pena Nieto, said the Mexican government is trying
to shift the conversation about its place on the world stage away from its
strife with organized crime and toward its growing economy. Since Pena Nieto
took office Dec. 1, his administration has pushed reform to Mexico's education,
labor and energy systems, but it's largely been quiet about any plans for
improving security.
Given the past reputation of Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or
PRI, to turn a blind eye to the cartels, the new security policy has raised red
flags, Cuellar said. But he added that the new policy is reflective of the
Mexican public's suspicion of foreign meddling in internal affairs.
It's also indicative of a country that may still be deciding on an appropriate
security strategy.
As a member of the House Appropriations committee, Cuellar has reached out to
Mexican officials on several occasions to figure out what their plans are for
expending U.S. aid from Plan Merida, a comprehensive package of aid and
equipment approved in 2007 to help Mexico fight the drug cartels. Cuellar said
Mexican officials have still not released a detailed strategy for how they plan
to work with the United States under Plan Merida.
"In fighting this, we've got to be strong together," Cuellar said. "This is not
an American problem or a Mexican problem. It's a joint problem that includes
Guatemala, Central America and the other countries we have to work with."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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