Obama on human rights at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico
President Obama traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico on Sunday for the North American Leaders Summit, a series of regular meetings that began during the Bush administration. During the Summit, Obama is meeting with both Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss cooperation on issues that affect the three countries. While swine flu, the economy, and climate change are on the list of topics to discuss, drug violence, security and the human rights conditions of the Mérida Initiative are going to be hot topics between Presidents Obama and Calderón. As mentioned last week on this blog, 15% of the funds allocated by the Mérida Initiative to Mexico must be held until the U.S. State Department releases a report on the steps the Mexican government is taking to address human rights concerns, especially in regards to human rights abuses and impunity within the military. These funds are currently being blocked because Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, said that he believes the release of this report to Congress is premature since the requirements have not been met. In response to this, the Mexican Congress <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/617270.html" href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/617270.html" target="blank>released a statement last week urging President Calderón to reject the human rights certification process that has been placed on U.S. aid to Mexico. One point of the accord proposed by Mexican Representative Tomás Torres, of the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), reads:
The Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union urges the holder of the Federal Executive power to reject in a convincing manner the United States' unilateral certification process on Mexico regarding the topic of human rights; and demands that the North American government advances in the construction of a real scheme of cooperation and co-responsibility in the fight against organized crime.
While the Los Angeles Times reported that Mexico did not want the drug war to dominate the conference, Mexico's Proceso reported that the topic of narcotrafficking took precedence during the meeting between Presidents Obama and Calderón. Despite the disapproval of the United States' human rights conditions by members of the Mexican Congress, President Obama underlined the importance of human rights during his private meeting with President Calderón.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, reaffirmed his government's support for the struggle against narcotrafficking that Felipe Calderón's government is fighting, adding that respect for human rights must be preserved. 'President Obama in various occasions underlined the importance respect for human rights has in the United States and frankly also in Mexico,' reported a White House spokesperson.
While President Obama did bring up human rights in his conversation with President Calderón, he reiterated his approval of the Calderón government's fight against the drug cartels and the Mexican government's commitment to human rights during the joint press conference this morning. President Obama said during his opening remarks:
As I've said on many occasions, I heartily commend President Calderón and his government for their determination and courage in taking on these cartels and the President reaffirmed his government's commitment to transparency, accountability and human rights as they wage this difficult but necessary fight.
In response to a question about violence committed by drug cartels and the human rights conditions, President Obama said:
I have great confidence in President Calderón's administration, applying the law enforcement techniques that are necessary to curb the power of the cartels, but doing so in a way that's consistent with human rights. We discussed this in our bilateral meeting and I am confident that, as the national police are trained and the coordination between the military and local police officials is improved, there is going to be increased transparency and accountability, and that human rights will be observed. The biggest by far violators of human rights right now are the cartels themselves, that are kidnapping people and extorting people and encouraging corruption in these regions. That's what needs to be stopped.
Despite President Obama's frequent use of the phrase "human rights" in his public remarks, he also heavily praised President Calderón's efforts in the fight against the drug cartels and his commitment to human rights in what appears to be a strategy to please both the human rights organizations and the Mexican government and Congress at the same time. However, in his opening statement at the press conference, President Obama noted that the United States "will work to make sure Mexico has the support it needs to defeat and dismantle the cartels," alluding to the idea that the 15% of aid to Mexico will be released soon - an effort which would not be supported by human rights organizations.