OBAMA TO MEET CALDERON, HARPER

Mexico Summit Has Wide Agenda

President Obama travels to Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday for a
two-day meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss global economic recovery,
climate change and the ongoing drug wars in Mexico that have cost
more than 12,000 lives in less than three years.

The North American Leaders' Summit is to kick off with a bilateral
meeting Sunday night between Obama and Calderon that is expected to
focus on Mexico's drug cartels.

"A great deal of this discussion will hinge on drugs and thugs," said
a Mexican government official familiar with the agenda for the
closed-door meetings. "The fight that is taking place in Mexico today
against drug trafficking is not going to be pretty, and it's not
going to be simple, and it's not going to be done overnight."

This will be Obama's second visit to Mexico since taking office. He
traveled to the country in April to pledge his support for Calderon's
efforts to halt the drug trade, which includes the flow of U.S.-made
weapons across the border.

"What affects our bordering neighbors has the potential to affect us
all, so we want to be certain that we have the tightest, best
possible cooperation," said James L. Jones, Obama's national security
adviser. "I think . . . we have to do everything we can to be a
helpful neighbor and partner, to make sure that we are successful in this."

Mexico has complained that U.S. aid, including training and
equipment, is not getting to the country quickly enough. Only a
fraction of the $1.4 billion U.S. aid package known as the Merida
Initiative has been spent. And helicopters and other promised
equipment have not been delivered.

The three leaders also are expected to discuss what their countries
are doing collaboratively to deal with the H1N1, or swine flu, virus
this fall and how to ensure that officials are working closely with
public health departments.

"The leaders are going to ensure that we are all talking to one
another, that we are moving forward and that we have a strategy to
deal" with swine flu, said John O. Brennan, Obama's deputy national
security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security.

The trilateral meetings are also scheduled to address clean energy,
climate change and ways to improve North American competitiveness.

"The summit is going to be a step in the continuing dialogue from
which agreements will undoubtedly come," Jones said.