The Week in Review Share This /

This week Congress sanctioned Venezuelan officials, the House of Representatives called for more Defense Department involvement in the drug war and the State Department cleared the way for Mexico to buy over 3,000 vehicles from the U.S. to expand its army in the fight against the cartels.

• On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2015. The bill touched on the security situation in Mexico and Central America and called on the Defense Department to "increase its maritime, aerial and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets in the region."
• The House also approved two amendments by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) regarding counternarcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere. The first would authorize the Defense Secretary to "deploy assets, personnel and resources, in coordination with SOUTHCOM, to combat increasing threats" in the region and the second urges the Obama Administration to exclude Cuba from regional discussions about counternarcotics cooperation.
• Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Mexico on Wednesday where he met with President Peña Nieto and Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade. During a background briefing on Kerry's trip, a senior State Department official noted U.S.-Mexico security cooperation would focus more on police and corrections training at the state level. The official also stated that security coordination had initially slowed when President Peña Nieto limited U.S. agents' widespread access to Mexican agencies by mandating that all U.S. law enforcement engagement go through the Interior Ministry. Coordination has since reportedly become more fluid and less tightly controlled.
• On Tuesday, the House of Representatives held a hearing on the future of U.S.-Mexico relations. Much of the hearing focused on education, energy reform and the two countries' economic relationship. See here for opening statements, testimonies and a webcast. A few points on security during the hearing:
  • Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, William Brownfield, said that due to increased cooperation between the countries, he hoped money for the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement program would increase in 2016 after dropping considerably from $148 million in 2014 to $18 million in the 2015 request, according to Brownfield.
  • Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) asked about U.S. efforts to reduce the flow of weapons into Mexico, while Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) questioned Brownfield about whether drug legalization would weaken the cartels. Brownfield said he would be "very careful to not create a policy that would increase the number of users and consumers of dangerous products."
  • Colombian security forces have provided a great deal of aviation training, particularly helicopter courses, to Mexican forces.
• Earlier this month, The Fellowships of Reconciliation released a report, "The Rise and Fall of 'False Positive' Killings in Colombia: The Role of U.S. Military Assistance, 2000-2010.”  The report shows a positive correlation between U.S. military funding and training and extrajudicial killings. See here for a summary of the report along with recommendations for U.S. policymakers and here for maps that offer a geographical breakdown of the killings and highlight the most at-risk areas.
• Last week the State Department cleared the way for Mexico to purchase 3,335 M1152 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) for an estimated cost of $556 million. The price tag includes spare parts, communication and support equipment, training, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, along with additional logistics support.

According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, "Mexico intends to use these defense articles and services to modernize its armed forces and expand its existing army architecture to combat drug trafficking organizations." The State Department also recently approved the sale of 18 Black Hawk helicopters to Mexico for $680 million for the same purpose. 

• On Tuesday, the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee voted 13-2 in favor of sanctioning Venezuelan officials linked to abuses in the anti-government protests that have left 42 dead. The bill would freeze the assets and impose a visa ban on those officials, as well as commit $15 million to non-governmental organizations, including independent media and pro-democracy groups. The proposed legislation will now go to the full Senate. The House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee has already approved similar legislation that is also awaiting a vote on the floor.
• For its part, the Obama administration has been slow to back the sanctions, instead promoting mediated dialogue between the government and opposition. Many officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, have said sanctions would do little more than fuel the Venezuelan government's claims that the United States is provoking the protests. In an excellent op-ed for the Washington Post, Venezuela expert David Smilde makes the case for why sanctions would be counterproductive.  
• While in Mexico Kerry said that "Regrettably, there has just been a total failure by the government of Venezuela to demonstrate good-faith actions to implement those things that they agreed to do." He noted that while the Obama administration hoped sanctions "would not be necessary," the U.S. Congress had moved forward with the legislation and that it was now up to Maduro and other officials to “make the decisions that will make it unnecessary” for sanctions to be approved. UNASUR-mediated talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition are currently stalled, increasing the likelihood sanctions will be approved.
• Guatemala created a new air counternarcotics task force comprised of military and police forces. The task force will provide support for ground operations as well as intercept aerial drug shipments. The United States has provided substantial support to Guatemalan security forces air units, including six helicopters and air navigation instruments that were donated last October.
• This week the Congressional Research Service updated its report on the Central American Regional Security Initiative, the United States' main assistance package to Central America.
• Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) asked the Government Accountability Office to assess how the United States is doing in its efforts to curb firearm trafficking to Mexico.