Today, South American leaders who are members of the Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, met in Quito, Ecuador, where the discussion centered on the proposed agreement between the United States and Colombia to increase the presence of the U.S. military at seven Colombian bases. However, because President Uribe was not present (he decided not to attend due to the increased tensions between Colombia and its neighboring countries resulting from the agreement with the United States), the leaders in attendance...
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...
State Department spokesman Robert Wood had to answer a lot of questions about Latin America during today's daily press briefing. On aid to Mexico:
... the report is still in the draft stage. And we’re currently reviewing information that we’ve received over the last week for inclusion in the 15 percent report. I just want to be very clear here. Our goal is to try to produce as comprehensive a report as possible, so as – that Congress can fully understand the steps that the Mexican
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The Washington Post reported today that Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) blocked the release of $100 million in U.S. aid to Mexico after rejecting the State Department's report to Congress which praised Mexico's progress on human rights. According to the article, the State Department will rewrite the report and attempt to submit it after Congress reconvenes in September. Section 7045(e) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act...
Over the weekend, the State Department uploaded the long-overdue Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest for FY 2007 and 2008 report to its website. This document was supposedly released in January 2008, but it took a year and a half and a lot of pestering to get it posted to the website. This Foreign Military Training Report is a joint report by the Department of Defense and the Department of State and is required by two laws: the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as...
Today's Washington Post headline, "New Strategy Urged in Mexico," warns that Mexican President "Calderón's U.S.-backed war against drug cartels is losing political support" due to a failed strategy of militarization.
There are now sustained calls in Mexico for a change in tactics, even from allies within Calderón's political party, who say the deployment of 45,000 soldiers to fight the cartels is a flawed plan that relies too heavily
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