Mexico Needs 'Deeds,
Not Words' From Obama White House
"With ex-President Bush, we thought Mexico had finally gotten its arrogant neighbor to assume a role in battling drug trafficking. … We discovered later
that this change in attitude was solely on the part of the U.S. executive branch. ... For that reason, this time, the government of Barack Obama must confirm with deeds his words of commitment that as of today, remain in doubt."
In just the last two months,
Mexico-United States relations have arrived at a dangerous place. It's
incredible that it was only January when Barack Obama was received by President Felipe
Calderón with warm words and good wishes. Certain newspapers, unfortunate
declarations, the closing of the border to Mexican trucks and Forbes
Magazine are what made this deterioration in ties possible.
[Editor's Note: Mexico's most
wanted man, Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman, who is blamed for thousands of deaths in the
drug war, made it onto Forbes Magazine'slist
of the world's richest people, with a fortune estimated at $1 billion.]
For the moment,
we must applaud the prompt response of the government of the United States:
arriving in our land today is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; who is to be
followed by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; then the attorney
general of that country, Eric Holder; and finally, Barack Obama.
The government of Mexico must
take advantage of this opportunity. It should make clear that the importance of
bilateral relations prohibits additional delays in talks and exchanges.
Once U.S.
"certification" of Mexico was complete, after which ex-President
George W. Bush signed the Mérida Initiative,
we thought that Mexico had finally gotten its arrogant neighbor to assume
a role in battling drug trafficking.
SECRETARY HILLARY CLINTON INTERVIEWED ON MEXICAN TV
We discovered
later that this change in attitude was solely on the part of the U.S. executive
branch; Capitol Hill conditioned the millions of dollars promised Mexico on the
passage of amendments to the Constitution. [Democrats
wanted guarantees that Mexican police and military wouldn't violate human
rights]. Bush opposed this and exerted pressure to
eliminate several of these obstacles, only to discover months later that with
the Democrats in power, Congress had decided to cut the amount of money
allotted to the program.
"Allocating $400 million
to a country battling drugs is inadequate. That's what the United States spends
on the war in Iraq in a single day," said Costa Rica President Óscar Arias
before his visit to Mexico this week. He's right.
For that reason, this time,
the government of Barack Obama must confirm with deeds his words of commitment
that as of today, remain in doubt. He should immediately support Mexico with all of the
powers of his office, with or without the backing of Congress.
