Mexico, US draw up outlines of new security framework

3 years ago 233

MEXICO CITY – High-level delegations from Mexico and the United States connected Friday laid retired the outlines of a caller information model betwixt the nations that astatine slightest conceptually marked a departure from the mindset that steered their practice implicit the past decade.

The alleged U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities seeks to determination beyond the 13-year-old Merida Initiative that focused connected gathering Mexico’s crime-fighting capabilities and regularisation of instrumentality projects.

“It’s clip for a broad attack to our information cooperation, 1 that volition spot america arsenic adjacent partners successful defining our shared priorities, tackle the basal drivers of these challenges similar inequity, similar corruption and absorption not lone connected strengthening instrumentality enforcement, but besides nationalist health, the regularisation of law, inclusive economical opportunities,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard enactment it much succinctly: “Goodbye Merida, invited Bicentennial agreement.”

“The archetypal substantive quality is that the Merida Initiative was, from the constituent of presumption of Mexico, focused connected the thesis that the cartel capos had to beryllium captured and that was sufficient,” Ebrard said. Now they spot that wasn't enough, that attraction indispensable beryllium paid to expanding opportunities for younker and treating addiction, helium said. “The occurrence of this is going to beryllium measured successful less homicides successful Mexico and little cause consumption.”

That displacement successful accent is successful enactment with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's “hugs, not bullets” refrain and his stated uninterest successful pursuing the leaders of Mexico's cartels.

The 2 governments' associated declaration devoted sizeable abstraction to treating cause addiction — particularly opioids — and its societal effects successful the nationalist wellness context, a important departure from Merida’s accent connected the transgression justness system.

The U.S. pledged to give much resources to place and dainty radical affected by opioids and Mexico committed to moving with the United Nations to motorboat a programme to amended negociate shipping containers to bounds the importation of chemic precursors for synthetic drugs similar fentanyl.

Mexico seized an estimated 1.3 tons of the synthetic opioid past year. That aforesaid year, the U.S. recorded 93,000 cause overdose deaths.

The governments committed to targeting importers of chemic precursors for fentanyl and methamphetamine, their fiscal networks and concealed labs.

They besides said they would enactment unneurotic to trim the trafficking of guns, a precocious precedence for violence-wracked Mexico, and to supply much opportunities to younker to marque it harder for transgression organizations to enlistee them.

“We request to woody with the violence, dismantle the transnational transgression organizations and absorption connected prevention with the extremity of creating the conditions for a civilization of peace, portion we enactment hand-in-hand to code the cardinal causes of crime,” the associated connection said.

Mexico's Public Safety Secretary, Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez said, “for galore years, the contented of Mexico's information has been addressed from the constituent of presumption that it's lone measured by the usage of force, present we are combatting the causes that originate that unit with societal programs, quality and coordination, listening to men and women successful their towns, their municipalities and communities.”

Immigration is expected to beryllium a cardinal taxable of the dialogue. López Obrador has been saying for months that Mexico cannot proceed to simply detain migrants and effort to incorporate them successful the confederate portion of the country, acold from the U.S. border.

He has asked the U.S. authorities to put successful 2 of his signature societal programs to relieve immoderate of the economical unit radical consciousness to migrate. The Biden medication needs Mexico’s continued practice to negociate the travel of migrants to the U.S. border.

The U.S. besides indispensable find a mode to re-instate the arguable Trump-era argumentation that made asylum seekers hold retired their cases successful Mexico. Under the alleged Migrant Protection Protocols, tens of thousands of asylum seekers waited successful unsafe Mexican borderline cities for their cases to advance. Biden had made cancelling the argumentation 1 of his archetypal orders of concern upon taking office, but the Supreme Court ordered that it beryllium implemented again. Ebrard said that contented was not discussed Friday.

Mexico has besides been pressing for the U.S. authorities to bash much to halt amerciable guns from pouring successful from the U.S. The guns substance Mexico’s organized transgression violence, creating a nationalist information contented that López Obrador’s authorities has been incapable to adequately address.

Both sides were besides expected to sermon the relation of U.S. agents successful Mexico and quality sharing. The governments importune that their information agencies enactment intimately connected a regular basis. But pursuing the United States’ apprehension of erstwhile Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos, past his merchandise aft Mexico’s large protests, tensions person persisted.

Cienfuegos was arrested aft helium was secretly indicted by a national expansive assemblage successful New York successful 2019. He was accused of conspiring with the H-2 cartel to smuggle thousands of kilos of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana portion helium was defence caput from 2012 to 2018.

With Cienfuegos back, Mexico said it would execute its ain investigation, but it was rapidly closed. López Obrador attacked U.S. prosecutors’ lawsuit against the wide and accused the Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating the case.

Mexico restricted U.S. agents moving successful the state and lifted their diplomatic immunity.

At a meal with some delegations Friday, López Obrador said “it would beryllium precise unfortunate if we didn’t recognize each other, if our cooperation, the relationship betwixt our governments and our peoples wasn’t strengthened.”

The extremity is to person a three-year program acceptable by the extremity of January.

AP writer Fabiola Sánchez contributed to this report.

Read Entire Article