Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere | 2172 House Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | May 23, 2013 10:00am

Chairman Salmon on the hearing:

“This June marks five years since the development and implementation of the Merida Initiative, a counterdrug and anticrime assistance package for Mexico and Central America.  Next week, the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere will hold the first of a two-part set of hearings to examine the challenges and successes of the past five years of security cooperation with Mexico, specifically.  The Subcommittee looks forward to exercising our oversight obligations by reviewing unobligated funds to ensure US taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely and efficiently, while exploring ways to improve upon our efforts to combat the scourge of narco-trafficking and transnational gangs in the region.  I look forward to working together with the new Peña Nieto Administration in Mexico to forge a strong path forward to help us secure our mutual ... Read More

By Tracy WilkinsonThe Mexican government poured army troops — and high-level delegations — into western Mexico on Tuesday in a bid to take back control of a region long besieged by a deadly drug cartel.

The operation in the Pacific state of Michoacan is the first major military deployment targeting drug traffickers to be ordered by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, which is still struggling to publicly define its security strategy six months after assuming leadership of this violent country.

Michoacan was probably chosen because it was fast spiraling into chaos. Parts of the state were awash in lawlessness, crippled by a cartel calling itself the Knights Templar, which in recent weeks blocked roads, torched businesses that refused to pay protection money and killed resisters. Entire villages were cut off, some reported to be desperately short on supplies.

In response and feeling abandoned or ignored by authorities, groups of armed citizens ... Read More

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government poured army troops — and high-level delegations — into western Mexico on Tuesday in a bid to take back control of a region long besieged by a deadly drug cartel.

The operation in the Pacific state of Michoacan is the first major military deployment targeting drug traffickers to be ordered by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, which is still struggling to publicly define its security strategy six months after assuming leadership of this violent country.

Michoacan was probably chosen because it was fast spiraling into chaos. Parts of the state were awash in lawlessness, crippled by a cartel calling itself the Knights Templar, which in recent weeks blocked roads, torched businesses that refused to pay protection money and killed resisters. Entire villages were cut off, some reported to be desperately short on supplies.

In response and feeling abandoned or ignored by authorities, groups of armed citizens ... Read More

TRACY WILKINSON

MEXICO CITY — A dramatic rupture in Mexico’s main opposition political party has aired the group’s dirty laundry and also could trip up President Enrique Peña Nieto’s ambitious agenda of reform.

The political fireworks riveted Mexicans on Monday, dominating airwaves and social media as leaders of the National Action Party, or PAN, bickered openly.

On one level, citizens were viewing another chapter in the agony of a party that ruled for the last 12 years but has been corroded by infighting and a bitter power struggle. Also at stake, potentially, was the ease with which Peña Nieto has been getting legislation through a fairly compliant Congress.

PAN chair Gustavo Madero over the weekend unceremoniously fired his party’s caucus leader in the Senate, Ernesto Cordero. Cordero will remain in the Senate, even continuing to hold his title of Senate president, but will no longer be the party’s go-to man.

Analysts quickly saw in this a slap ... Read More

By Scott Stewart Vice President of Analysis

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s approach to combating Mexican drug cartels has been a much-discussed topic since well before he was elected. Indeed, in June 2011 — more than a year before the July 2012 Mexican presidential election — I wrote an analysis discussing rumors that, if elected, Pena Nieto was going to attempt to reach some sort of accommodation with Mexico’s drug cartels in order to bring down the level of violence.

Such rumors were certainly understandable, given the arrangement that had existed for many years between some senior members of Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party and some powerful cartel figures during the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s long reign in Mexico prior to the election of Vicente Fox of the National Action Party in 2000. However, as we argued in 2011 and repeated in March 2013, much has changed in Mexico since 2000, and the new reality in Mexico means ... Read More

BY ADAM THOMPSON

In 1976, Rudesindo Cantarell arrived at Pemex’s offices in the Mexican Gulf city of Coatzacoalcos demanding compensation for damage that crude oil seepage had caused to his fishing nets.

His complaint alerted officials of the state oil company to what would become one of the world’s five biggest oil finds. For Mexico, it promised energy security and tens of billions of dollars a year for the state.

Today, the discovery is a distant memory. Production, which topped 2m barrels a day in the early 2000s, is now about 400,000 barrels.

Against this backdrop, Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s reform-minded president, has proposed what could be the biggest shake-up of his country’s energy industry since the government nationalised the sector in the 1930s. Before he assumed power in December last year, Mr Peña Nieto said Mexico had been a hostage to ideology and it was time to open up oil to private investment.

Even with the ... Read More

BY NICK MIROFF

MEXICO CITY — The recent changes ordered by new President Enrique Peña Nieto to Mexico’s anti-narcotics partnership with the United States have produced markedly different reactions here and in Washington, underscoring what appear to be diverging perceptions of the drug war’s goals and the costs of fighting it.

Peña Nieto’s decision to limit the ability of American agents to operate in Mexico has been met with dismay by U.S. law enforcement agencies, which left a heavy footprint under the previous administration of Felipe Calderon. They warn that intelligence sharing will suffer if they can no longer choose which Mexican force — the army, navy or federal police — to give sensitive information to; they’ve been instructed to now funnel everything through Mexico’s Interior Ministry instead.

The agents also caution that the personal relationships developed under Calderon will fray if they are no longer welcome to work side by side with trusted partners ... Read More

BY JAIME DAREMBLUM

During his trip to Mexico and Costa Rica last week, President Obama tried to highlight the positive and downplay the negative. Thus, he spoke at length about the growth of trade, commerce, and economic partnerships, arguing that security issues should not be allowed to dominate all discussions of U.S. policy in the region. (Of course, Obama voted against the Central America Free Trade Agreement when he was a senator, and he canceled a U.S.-Mexico pilot trucking program during his first months as president, but never mind.) His remarks were surely welcomed by Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, who has taken great pains to transform his country’s image abroad. Whereas many Americans and others have come to associate Mexico with drug trafficking and brutal cartel violence, Peña Nieto wants them to learn more about Mexico’s emergence as a manufacturing powerhouse, its increasingly important role in the global economy, and the expansion of its middle class.

His desire to emphasize ... Read More

BY RICHARD FAUSSET

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Guadalajara police commander Juan Carlos Martinez took Mexico’s national police vetting exam in April 2012. He failed. But no one in government would tell him why.

A few months later, he received a phone call from a man identifying himself as a member of a drug cartel. Why don’t you think about joining us, he said the man on the phone asked. You won’t go hungry.

Martinez, 38, declined the offer and maintains that he had been an honorable cop.

But the phone call was not an anomaly. Here in the state of Jalisco, the cartels have tried to lure ex-cops with online recruitment ads. In the northern state of Coahuila, they put up posters.

It is just one of the challenges Mexico faces as it struggles to deep-clean its troubled police forces, relying on an ambitious control de confianza, or confidence control, test that aims to ensure every officer’s aptitude and ... Read More

BY RAYMOND COLITT & RANDALL WOODS

Latin America’s two largest nations are vying for economic and diplomatic clout as their candidates face off as finalists to head the World Trade Organization.

The WTO is scheduled to name by May 8 the first director- general from Latin America in its 18-year history. It will choose between Roberto Azevedo, Brazil (BZGDGDP4)’s representative to the Geneva-based group, and Herminio Blanco, a former Mexico trade minister who led the nation’s negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. and Canada. The winner will replace the outgoing WTO chief, France’s Pascal Lamy, in September.

The race is a contest for diplomatic prowess as Mexico draws on its faster growth and more open economy to fortify its candidate, said Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. Analysts polled by Bloomberg forecast Mexico will outgrow its southern peer for the third straight year in 2013, reversing a trend that allowed Brazil to pull ahead as ... Read More

BY NICK MIROFF & WILLIAM BOOTH

MEXICO CITY — It has been 75 years since President Lázaro Cárdenas seized the country’s foreign-dominated petroleum industry and placed every drop of oil under the everlasting domain of the Mexican people.

But while it once was a source of national pride, the state-run monopoly he created — known as Pemex — has become a dinosaur, sapped by debt, sagging output and dated technology. The Mexican government siphons off the company’s revenue to cover about one-third of the federal budget, leaving insufficient funds for what has become a critical task: finding more oil.

Mexico remains the third-largest source of foreign oil for the United States after Canada and Saudi Arabia. But the country’s easy-pump crude is quickly running dry, and the company lacks the technology and know-how to drill for the vast stores of tougher-to-reach deposits that are thought to exist beneath Mexico’s deserts and seas.

Fixing the company, ... Read More

BY MICHAEL D. SHEAR & RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — In February 2009, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declared that international drug trafficking posed “a sustained, serious threat” to Americans. Two months later, President Obama, in his first visit as president to Mexico, made it clear that no issue dominated relations between the two countries more, saying drug cartels there were “sowing chaos in our communities.”

Last week, Mr. Obama returned to capitals in Latin America with a vastly different message. Relationships with countries racked by drug violence and organized crime should focus more on economic development and less on the endless battles against drug traffickers and organized crime capos that have left few clear victors. The countries, Mexico in particular, need to set their own course on security, with the United States playing more of a backing role.

That approach runs the risk of being seen as kowtowing to governments more concerned ... Read More

BY KATHLEEN HENNESSEY & TRACY WILKINSON

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — President Obama capped a three-day visit to Latin America on Saturday by urging the region’s leaders to fight the drug war not with more guns or military aid but with greater investment in infrastructure, education and energy.

Communicating that message, delivered Friday night to a group of Central American leaders and again Saturday at a development conference in San Jose, was the chief aim of Obama’s brief visit south, which also included a stop in Mexico City. As he zipped through the two capitals, Obama sought to change stereotypes about a troubled region by touting the possibilities in trade, energy development and democratic reforms.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of the critical importance of trade, commerce, business for Costa Rica, the United States and the entire hemisphere,” Obama said Saturday.

The message was a shift from years of tough talk on U.S. plans to help governments crack down on ... Read More

BY CYNTHIA J. ARNSON & ERIC L. OLSON

As President Barack Obama visits Mexico and Costa Rica this weekend, the administration is emphasizing the themes of sustainable economic growth, development, and the cultural ties that bind millions of people in the region to immigrants in the United States.  And while the new administration of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto appears determined to shift the bilateral conversation away from security issues, this topic will frame the meetings in Costa Rica; there, in addition to a bilateral meeting with Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, President Obama will meet will all seven Central American presidents, plus the Dominican Republic.

The United States was slow to realize the ways that Mexico’s crackdown on drug trafficking cartels would impact the Central American isthmus.  Today, some 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States passes through Central America, where criminal organizations exploit porous borders, weak and often ... Read More

BY RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD & MICHAEL D. SHEAR

MEXICO CITY — President Obama, in speech to high school and university students here, said Friday that it was time to banish the stereotypical Mexico of violence and people fleeing across borders and embrace the new image of a strengthening democracy and economy.

“I have come to Mexico because it is time to put old mind-sets aside,’’ Mr. Obama said to vigorous applause from hundreds of students at the National Anthropology Museum. “It’s time to recognize new realities, including the impressive progress in today’s Mexico. For even as Mexicans continue to make courageous sacrifices for the security of your country, even as Mexicans in the countryside and in neighborhoods not far from here struggle to give their children a better life, it’s also clear that a new Mexico is emerging.’’

Although poverty remains deep and wages have stagnated, Mr. Obama focused on the positive signs of ... Read More

At the invitation of President Enrique Peña Nieto, President Barack Obama travelled to Mexico City on May 2-3 to discuss the broad range of bilateral, regional, and global issues that bind the United States and Mexico and touch the daily lives of citizens of both countries. Building on their positive initial meeting in Washington, D.C. last November, the two Presidents renewed their commitment to the United States-Mexico relationship.

Looking ahead to the next 4 years during which their presidencies will overlap, the two leaders noted the importance of taking advantage of opportunities and harnessing the enthusiasm and optimism that a new stage in bilateral relations brings. The Presidents underscored the strategic importance of the bilateral relationship and expressed a desire for even greater cooperation between their two nations. Specifically, the Presidents focused on: 1) economic competitiveness; 2) people-to-people connections; 3) leadership on regional and global issues; and 4) citizen security.

Economic Competitiveness

Underpinning ... Read More

BY ZACHARY A. GOLDFARB

MEXICO CITY — President Obama on Friday sought to reassure Mexico that the United States understands it is a growing source of economic strength, avoiding any critique of the country and praising its progress.

On his fourth trip to Mexico — part of a three-day swing through Latin America — Obama said he wants to demolish misconceptions about the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor.

While there remains a deep divide between the two countries on a host of issues, from security to energy, the remarks underscored the increasing importance of fast-growing Mexico to the slower-growing United States.

“Despite the deep bonds and values we share, attitudes — in both countries — are sometimes trapped in old stereotypes,” Obama said in a speech at the Anthropology Museum here. “Some Americans only see the Mexico depicted in sensational headlines of violence and border crossings. Some Mexicans may think America disrespects ... Read More

In his meeting earlier today with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, President Obama underscored the strategic nature of the bilateral relationship, and the two leaders discussed the broad range of bilateral, regional, and global issues that bind the United States and Mexico and touch the daily lives of citizens of both countries.  The Presidents discussed ways to deepen the economic and commercial relationship and reaffirmed their commitment to conclude a high-standard Trans-Pacific Partnership this year. President Obama noted the importance of people-to-people connections, including greater educational exchange as part of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative.

President Obama reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to work in partnership with Mexico on the security challenges facing both countries.  President Obama pledged to continue to use Merida Initiative resources to support efforts to reduce violence in Mexico and ensure respect for human rights.  In particular, the two leaders discussed the importance of working together to strike at the ... Read More

Achieving immigration reform will help facilitate the growing economic relationship the U.S. has with Mexico, President Obama said Thursday in Mexico City.

It is unwise “for us to get constantly bogged down on these border issues,” Mr. Obama said in a press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, “instead of… making sure legal immigration and legal trade and commerce is facilitated.”

Mr. Obama said he’s “optimistic” immigration reform will be passed in the United States. “If we’re going to get that done, now is the time to do it,” he said.

The U.S. president stressed, however, that his three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica this week focuses on the critical economic ties between the two countries. The two leaders today confirmed their commitment to concluding negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. They also established ways in which they can ... Read More

BY LISA LERER & NACHA CATTAN

President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico today with a message that ties the immigration debate in the U.S. to economic growth on both sides of the border.

In his discussions with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Obama also will be conscious of his audience back home, where Congress next week resumes negotiating possible changes to immigration law. That debate will affect U.S. and Mexican businesses as well as the millions of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally.

Obama and Pena Nieto are scheduled to meet for about an hour before holding a joint news conference at 4:10 p.m. local time.

The domestic debate is intertwined with the thorniest issues in U.S. relations with Latin America, including border security, drug trafficking and free trade.

“The White House is hoping to highlight the economic opportunities that would emanate from a modernized immigration system,” said Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist who met ... Read More