The politically correct answer is the following: because Mexico is an important partner of the United States. However, the real answer is something closer to this: because Mexico is using taxpayer’s dollars in a war against drugs that is spilling into the United States and it may need even more funds to keep the effort. The fact that Obama will visit Mexico in April also plays in important role in the visit.

As the US government tries to recover money granted to AIG, the Mexican government is trying to recover sovereignty over Ciudad Juarez. The city on the US-Mexico border is currently occupied by more than 7,000 Mexican troops. Relative to the total size of armed forces, this is equivalent to a deployment of 41,000 US soldiers. Not only has the Mexican government positioned an immense number of forces in the city, but it has also taken over its local law enforcement agencies. A few days ago, several active and retired high ranking officers took oath as heads of the city’s department of public security, municipal police, and special police forces, among many others. This action effectively ends the city’s autonomy in the law enforcement dimension. These events suggest that the situation in this old border town is dire. Perhaps for this reason the US military has been considering whether and how to help its Mexican counterpart. The visit of President Obama to Mexico in April should clarify to what extent is the US willing to participate in the fight against drugs in Mexico.

After nearly a year of blogging for the FPA, I’m moving on to a new opportunity with the Political Database of the Americas at Georgetown University.  I’d like to thank my co-blogger, Alejandro Quiroz Flores, for a great year of writing together as we’ve documented Mexico’s rise to the top of the headlines.  Thank you as well to everyone who has read and linked to our blog, encouraging us to keep writing and bringing analysis of Mexico.

Although I’m dismayed at the huge rise in drug violence, US-Mexico relations are once again on the forefront of international news and hopefully with the American government.  I’m disappointed that the Mexican ambassador to the US, Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana, never responded to my request for an interview, but aware that his agenda is full of the issues that we’ve written about during this past year.  After graduation, it’s likely that I will continue working on issues related to Mexico.

Please feel free to e-mail me at  mikeinboulder at gmail.com or on my profile on LinkedIn.  Thank you once again, and Happy Trails!

Mike

Today the American Congress held hearings on the drug violence that is increasingly spilling over from Mexico to the US.  The big proposal put forth by the Department of Homeland Security was to deploy the National Guard on the US-Mexico border to stemt the tide of violence.  Read more here.

Recently the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington released a report on organized crime in the two countries.  View the event video here.

The State Department recently released a document titled “Spring Break in Mexico - Know Before You Go.”  I’d highly recommend it for anyone with Spring Break plans south of the border.

I just received the following email today that the Congressional Subcommittee on National Security will be examining the US role is fueling organized crime in Mexico.  This long overdue, as I wrote about the seriousness of the issue back in May.  Our previous Mexico blogger, Rohini Gupta, first wrote about the issue in July 2007.  If you’re in Washington, I would highly recommend attending this hearing.  If not, I believe you can view it online at C-SPAN.

***Media Advisory***

NATIONAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

“Money, Guns, and Drugs: Are U.S. Inputs Fueling Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border?”

WASHINGTON, DC — On Thursday, March 12, 2009, the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs will conduct an oversight hearing on whether U.S. money, guns, drug consumption, and drug precursors are fueling violence on the U.S.-Mexico border.  Members will also explore the threats this violence poses to U.S. national security interests.  To view the Subcommittee’s prior work, please visit: http://nationalsecurity.oversight.house.gov/ .

This hearing will feature top independent experts with extensive experience in Mexico and with border issues.  While the U.S. is currently engaged in initiatives with Mexico aimed at strengthening existing law enforcement cooperation, intelligence sharing, and training (e.g., the Mérida Initiative), this hearing asks the related question of what more the U.S. can do on our side of the border to help stop the increasing border violence.

WITNESS LIST:

•       Andrew Selee, Director, Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute, which published the January 2009 report “The United States and Mexico: Towards a Strategic Partnership;”

•       Michael A. Braun, Managing Partner, Spectre Group International LLC, and former Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Administrator / Chief of Operations; and

•       Tom Diaz, Senior Policy Analyst, Violence Policy Center, and author of “Making a Killing: the Business of Guns in America.”

WHERE:                  2154 Rayburn House Office Building

WHEN:                   10 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 12, 2009

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

March 10, 2009                                      Catherine McKenna Ribeiro (Tierney):  (202) 225-8020

Cell: (202) 641-1387

Ciudad Juarez is right on the border between the United States and Mexico, and since it was founded in the 17th century it has been a coveted price for guerrilla fighters, catholic congregations, revolutionary armies, as well as drug traffickers and the modern federal armed forces. Although the number of drug cartel members is not known with precision, the government of President Calderon aims at deploying 7,000 troops in Ciudad Juarez as soon as it is possible. There are more Mexican troops in this city than British forces in Basra.

The Sinaloa cartel, whose operatives were recently targeted by Operation Xcellerator in the United States, is at the center of the problem in Ciudad Juarez. Indeed, this and other cartels have been fighting over this strategic city for months. The war among cartels has produced thousands of deaths, the resignation of police commanders and officers, as well as numerous kidnappings. The city is also infamous for the disappearance of thousands of women over the last few years. Now the problem is likely to spillover to the United States. Mexican officials must be losing their sleep over this (and over the fact that they have been arguing for months that Mexico was prepared to face the financial crisis and now the country’s economy is badly damaged, but that is another story) and hence the deployment of troops.

In theory, the arrival of the federal forces should reduce the violence in the city. However, the inhabitants of this border town now have to go through several checkpoints in order to move through the city and live under the “vigilance” of a force that is not a beacon of light when it comes to the protection of human rights (i.e. the Mexican armed forces).  This means that Ciudad Juarez is in between a rock and a hard place. On one side are the relatively unreliable federal forces. On the other are the cartels. Cartels fight each other and still manage to contain the federal forces. In between are the inhabitants that must take cover from friendly and unfriendly fire.