More discussion of the Merida Initiative

La Plaza tries to follow discussion as it develops on the Merida Initiative, a bill that was approved by the United States Congress under which the Mexican government receive $400 million of help from the U.S in its fight against the country's powerful drug cartels and organized crime networks.

Reactions to the bill have been mixed. Some feel it's a good way to fight drug-related crime and violence in Mexico. Others are worried that the legislation puts more money into the hands of an already corrupt law enforcement branch in Mexico, which has a terrible human rights record. Click here for a la Plaza report on videos that surfaced in the country and show the Mexican police allegedly receiving lessons in torture.

The following links show the bill discussed on Democracy Now and Al Jazeera -- thanks to Americas MexicoBlog for the heads up:

Democracy Now! 

Democracy NOW! interviews CIP Americas Program director Laura Carlsen, TV host and documentary-maker Avi Lewis, and Global Exchange's John Gibler on NAFTA and the implications of Plan Mexico. Watch or listen here: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/31/plan_mexico

InsideUSA with Avi Lewis on Al-Jazeera English  (July 26)

Watch this interview with footage from the drug war and a rooftop Mexico City interview with Laura Carlsen and Jorge Chabat on Plan Mexico, the war on drugs and the human rights casualties of militarization:

Part One (15 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyDHNeJxazU

Part Two (8 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz8k39p8z4U  

The Riz Khan Show on Al-Jazeera English  (July 8)

In an interview focused on the recent torture tapes from Mexican police training programs, Human Rights Watch and Americas Program debate whether the Merida Initiative will have a positive or negative effect
on human rights in Mexico. Watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=busyzt3GzaA

Last month, Laura Carlsen, director of the Americas program for the Center for International Policy, and Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who heads the foreign operations subcommittee and is an advocate of the package, went head to head on the subject here on La Plaza.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[CS Trujillo]

Mexico has stolen enough US resources.We can't afford it anymore.

[Jerome Melgar]

The Merida Initiative needs to be passed. There's been over 2,000 killings in Mexico this year due to the drug violence. Things will get so desperate that it will spill onto American territory. Do we have to wait until a bloodbath occurs in McAllen, El Paso, Nogales or Tijuana to realize this??