U.S. PAYS MILLIONS TO HELP MEXICO FIGHT VICIOUS CARTELS

EL PASO - Mexico's vicious drug war - a bloody conflict that has claimed
the lives of thousands of people throughout the country - is now costing
U.S. taxpayers $465 million so far.

Whether the U.S. will get a return on the investment is the topic of a
fiery debate. Locally, some say the so-called Merida Initiative, which
will provide $1.4 billion to Mexico and other countries over three years,
will not do enough to help reduce the violence that is crippling Mexico
and border cities like Juarez.

Others say the U.S. has no business spending one dime in Mexico and argue
that improving security along the U.S.-Mexico border should be the
priority.

Now, the United States has a $465 million stake in Mexico's brutal drug war.

Whether that is enough or merited remains a point of contention. Some El
Paso officials want the U.S. to do more because the violence is beginning
to cripple Juarez and, to a lesser degree, El Paso.

As of last month, the U.S. began spending the $465 million that Congress
approved last year in the Merida Initiative, a three-year counter-drug and
anti-crime package for Mexico and Central America.

Most of the money, $400 million, will be spent on scanners, helicopters,
boats and computers in Mexico. Mexican President Felipe Calderon is trying
to implement systemic changes he hopes will change a culture that permits
powerful drug cartels to thrive.

Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., Arturo Sarukhan, strongly rebuts any
insinuation that Mexico isn't sound or is on the verge of collapsing, as
some U.S. military officials claim. Mexican officials make it clear that
the Merida plan is a joint cooperating agreement, not the U.S. stepping
in.

Wait-and-see approach

Overall, the Merida Initiative, as proposed by the Bush administration,
will spend $1.4 billion on initiatives in Mexico over three years.
However, only $465 million has been approved, and several congressmen have
said they want to see how the first phase goes before they approve
spending any more money to help Mexico fight the cartels.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he is extremely concerned about the
rising violence in Mexican border towns and its dangerous implications for
Texas border towns.

"He is currently examining ways to best use federal resources to quell
border violence and keep families and businesses in El Paso and all border
communities safe," said Jessica Sandlin, Cornyn's Texas press secretary.
"He supports assisting the Mexican government in fighting narco-terrorism
due to its serious implications for our national security but believes any
U.S. assistance should be grounded by strict accountability measures to
ensure those funds are being used effectively and responsibly."

Before any money is spent, the U.S. Department of State produced several
reports justifying the use of the money. One report issued in January by
the Congressional Research Service states that the U.S. has a shared
responsibility for combating crime in Mexico because 90 percent of the
cocaine consumed in the United States moves through Mexico.

"The Merida Initiative envisions strengthening and integrating security
from the U.S. Southwest border to Panama," the federal report states. "The
desired end state is to produce a safer and more secure hemisphere where
criminal organizations no longer wield the power to destabilize
governments nor threaten national and regional security and public safety;
as well as to prevent the entry and spread of illicit drugs."

In December, the United States and Mexico signed a letter of agreement
allowing $197 million in Merida funds to be disbursed. While President
Barack Obama has not officially said whether he will continue to support
the Merida plan, the fact he met with Calderon before his inauguration
bodes well for future funding, officials said.

"It supports the systemic change that President Calderon is after," said
William McGlynn, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.

Goals of initiative

The International Narcotics and Law Enforcement bureau of the U.S. State
Department is assigned to oversee most of the Merida Initiative money.

McGlynn said the initiative does not call for sending cash or U.S. troops
into those countries. All of the money will be used on products bought in
the U.S. or on programs the State Department can monitor.

The initiative has four principal goals:

- - Break the power of criminal organizations.

- - Help Mexican and Central American governments strengthen their borders
and air and sea controls.

- - Improve justice systems in the region.

- - Curtail gang activity in Mexico and Central America, and diminish the
demand for drugs in the region.

"This is Mexico's plan, not ours," McGlynn said. "A lot of the tactics and
techniques in the Merida Plan are theirs, not ours. We are just supporting
what Calderon is doing."

McGlynn said the main reason the U.S. chose to help Mexico is that
Calderon is already spending $3 billion of Mexico's money to combat the
cartels. And Calderon asked for help.

"The U.S. and Mexico now have a different relationship," he said. "This is
the top priority for Mexico right now. It will take a long time for the
system to change, but this has not been done before."

Ray Walser, a public policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation in
Washington, D.C., said that anyone who expects this three-year plan to
change the historically corrupt culture in Mexico is expecting too much.

"It is not designed to do that," he said. "But it is a start that will tip
the balance of that country in the direction we want it to go. Ending the
corruption in that country will be a long battle, but the process is
starting."

U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said he would rather see all of the
money in the Merida Initiative used on the U.S. side of the border to help
the Border Patrol and Texas border sheriffs. He is from Houston.

"It is inexcusable, it is intolerable for us to send one dime to the
Mexican government when they can afford to pay for this equipment
themselves," Culberson said. "But even more importantly than that, our
southern border is not secure."

No immediate relief

El Paso city Rep. Beto O'Rourke does not question the use of the money in
Mexico or the plan's strategic goal. His concern is that the plan does not
provide any immediate relief and does nothing to quickly end the violence.

More than 1,800 people in Juarez have been killed in the past 13 months.
Officials estimate that 93 percent of those slain had ties to the cartels.
In Mexico, more than 6,000 people have been killed so far.

"The implication that we are not going to do anything, that we are going
to let the cartels duke it out is unbelievable especially when innocent
people are being killed, businesses are being extorted and everyday
Juarenses are being kidnapped," O'Rourke said. "We know the violence is
affecting more than just the cartels."

And it will soon affect El Paso, if it hasn't already, officials said.
More than 54,000 jobs in El Paso are directly connected to Juarez.

Raymond McGrath, the U.S. consul general in Juarez, said the seriousness
of the problem in Juarez is easily evident and increasing daily. As an
example, McGrath said, in 2007, Juarez officials were concerned because
more than 300 murders had occurred. It was a number they found
unacceptable at that time.

"That murder number has quintupled," said McGrath, whose office provides
security updates to U.S. officials. "Not only has the murder rate
increased dramatically, the level of violence has created an environment
in which other forms of criminality have been increasing."

Daily life for the 1.2 million people in Juarez has been disrupted, he said.

"People are going to school and work and back home and that is it," he
said. "If they go shopping, they shop for the basics and nothing else.
They are not going out at night and they are staying indoors." He said the
service industry has been affected the most. Restaurants are mostly empty,
and the occupancy rate for hotels is less than 40 percent.

Bob Cook, president of El Paso Regional Economic Development Corp., which
recruits businesses to this region, said the drug violence now comes up in
every conversation that his office has with out-of-town companies.

"One hundred percent of the time, the Juarez violence comes up," he said.
"And they are now taking an extra 90 to 120 days before deciding if they
come here. They are concerned and doing risk assessment, but they have yet
to say no to coming to this area.

"Strong commerce is taking place, but we need (the violence) to stop
because what is happening is not sustainable."

More being done

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who met with Calderon in January, said
the Merida Initiative does as much as it can within the limits placed on
it by the Mexican government.

"I can assure you that the U.S. government is not sitting on its hands
doing nothing," he said. "There aren't any guarantees that we are going to
eliminate the drug cartels and the problems. But everything that we can
do, we are doing."

Reyes, chairman of the House intelligence committee, also said that more
is being done by the U.S. than what has been made public, but that he is
not at liberty to talk about it. Reyes also said that he knows how much in
aid, programs and equipment is coming to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of
the Merida plan, but he cannot talk about that either.

Luis Garcia, a retired INS district director who once was to be stationed
in Mexico, said the Merida plan is coming at the right time because
systemic changes are occurring in Mexico. He bases his observation on the
fact that the relationship between U.S. and Mexican agencies has changed
in the past 25 years.

The two countries are now cooperating and talking daily, a change from
when he was a federal agent.

"Relationships between the two countries before were based on personal
relationships," Garcia said. "It was based on who knew each other, not on
who was in office. Now, those relationships are institutionalized. All the
agencies work together; they talk and work to solve problems.

"This plan is a start, a step in the right direction."

Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6142.

Merida money

- - In June 2008, the 110th Congress appropriated $465 million in
supplemental assistance for Mexico, Central America, Haiti, and the
Dominican Republic.

- - On Dec. 3, 2008, the United States and Mexico signed a letter of
agreement, allowing $197 million in Merida funds to be disbursed.

- - Since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006, Mexico has
increased security spending to $4 billion.

- - The Bush Administration designed the Merida Initiative as a $1.4
billion, three-year counter-drug and anti-crime package for Mexico and
Central America that would begin in fiscal year 2008 and last through
fiscal year 2010.

- - Funding for 2010 has not been approved.