MEXICO CITY – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged U.S. lawmakers yesterday to resolve their differences over an aid package to help Mexico fight drugs, saying it would be “disastrous” for security on both sides of the border if the Merida Initiative fell through.
Richardson, who was in Mexico for a meeting of border governors that included Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger, said he was confident the U.S. Congress was “within striking distance of a potential deal that is also acceptable to Mexico.”
The governors met with Mexican President Felipe Calderón to push for federal help in crime-fighting and border security. They made a similar appeal to Bush in February.
President Bush has used a wave of violence in Mexico to push for congressional approval of the first $500 million installment of the multiyear aid proposal.
But the Senate approved only $450 million for the plan, and the House approved $461.5 million. The two chambers must agree on a final version before sending it to Bush for approval.
Richardson said Calderón deserved support in his fight against drug cartels, including deploying 25,000 troops to hot spots across the country. He said Mexico was in critical need of more resources for that battle, noting a string of attacks against police that have left several top commanders dead.
“It is important that the Senate and House resolve their differences, because it would be disastrous if Plan Merida went down the tube,” Richardson said.
“What is needed mostly is resources, equipment and personnel, and it would be disastrous for the border states if the commitment to Plan Merida were diminished,” he said.
The Merida Initiative would provide helicopters, planes, computer systems and police dogs.
But the congressional versions would impose several conditions on the aid, including guarantees of civilian investigations into human rights abuses by the Mexican military.
Calderón has called the conditions an intrusion on Mexican sovereignty, and Attorney General Eduardo Medina said last week that Mexico would wait until the plan is approved before deciding whether to accept the aid.
Cartels have responded to Calderón's surge against them with increasingly bold attacks against police and other security officials. Homicides related to organized crime have jumped 47 percent this year: 1,378 deaths compared with 940 in the same period last year.
Calderón said the root of the problem was demand for drugs in the United States and called for more to be done about it.
The U.S. governors offered staunch support for Calderón.
“Calderón is a great leader,” Schwarzenegger said. “We would like to congratulate him for the courage that he has to stand up against the drug lords and to fight them.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry told Cox News Service: “This is not just Mexico's problem, with the killings and violence, it's also about the U.S. and the consumption side of it.”
The Mexico aid package has been met with resistance from a diverse group in the United States, from right-wing radio hosts who want Mexico to fund its own drug war, to Amnesty International, which says the Mexican military needs to improve its human rights record.
