Mexico urges U.S. to release Merida Initiative money

Mexico is urging the United States to release the $400 million of first-year funding that it promised President Felipe Calderon to help him fight the country's powerful drug cartels and organized crime networks.

The money was pledged back in June by the U.S. Congress as part of a controversial bill called the Merida Initiative. But as the Associated Press and local media report, the financial aid has yet to be handed over. According to the Associated Press:

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa says the U.S. Congress is still analyzing supporting documents that were requested of Mexico.

But Espinosa says Mexico needs the aircraft, inspection equipment and other aid as soon as possible.

Espinosa told reporters on Tuesday that "we are insisting that we need the equipment," and "we hope it will come very soon."

The aid package includes equipment and training to help Mexico combat powerful drug cartels operating in the country.

Calderon has unleashed the nation's army against the "narcos" and the last year has seen drug-related violence within the country escalate. The discovery of headless bodies and written warnings from drug cartels operating across the country have become increasingly common.

Unofficial tallies by Mexican news outlets put the death toll from drug violence this year at more than 2,700. By some counts, it has already exceeded the total for 2007, which set a record, reported Ken Ellingwood last month.

Earlier this year, two experts discussed the pros and cons of the Merida Initiative. Critics of the aid package say it focuses on armed forces, which has a history of human rights abuses, and a weak and corrupt legal system.

Read more about the Merida Initiative here.

For full coverage of Mexico's drug wars, go to our Mexico Under Siege page.

— Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: A forensic expert lifts a human head from the scene where two decapitated heads were found in the city of Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico, on June 2. Credit: David Cruz / Associated Press