Pubdate: Fri, 23 May 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact:  2008 The New York Times Company
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Marc Lacey

CONGRESS TRIMS BUSH'S MEXICO DRUG PLAN

MEXICO CITY -- The United States Congress has scaled back on 
President Bush's anti-drug plans for Mexico and put human rights 
conditions on some of the aid, drawing fire from some Mexicans who 
accuse American lawmakers of meddling in their country's internal affairs.

As part of a broader emergency appropriations bill that remains under 
discussion and could face a presidential veto, the Senate on Thursday 
approved $350 million to aid Mexico in what has become a pitched 
battle against drug trafficking. The Senate would also give $100 
million to countries in Central America that are in drug wars of 
their own, as well as to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Besides reducing the Bush administration's request, which would have 
sent $500 million to Mexico and $50 million to Central America, the 
Senate adopted language similar to that in a recently passed House 
bill that would hold up a quarter of the money until the State 
Department ruled that Mexico was meeting certain human rights 
markers. The House approved $400 million for Mexico, one of several 
differences that will be worked out in a House-Senate conference in 
the coming weeks.

The Senate measure still represents a major increase in aid to Mexico 
in a single year, legislative aides said, reflecting bipartisan 
concern over the fact that an estimated 90 percent of the cocaine 
entering the United States comes through Mexican territory.

But at issue is the performance of Mexico's army and the police, 
which have been accused by human rights organizations of engaging in 
abuses as they chase down the country's drug cartels.

"Human rights abuses in the army are routinely investigated by the 
military itself, and that leads to impunity," said Tamara Taraciuk, 
Mexico researcher for Human Rights Watch. "The big issue is accountability."

To address that, the Congressional plans ask the secretary of state 
to report on whether Mexico was prohibiting testimony obtained 
through torture and trying soldiers accused of abuses in civilian 
courts, among other conditions.

Since President Felipe Calderon of Mexico started his drug war in 
2007, more than 200 law enforcement officers have been killed, among 
them at least two dozen top commanders. The overall body count is 
estimated to be 1,300 people so far this year, on track to exceed the 
roughly 2,500 drug-related killings in 2007.

The Bush administration has pointed to a recent surge of violence as 
evidence of the need for the so-called Merida Initiative, which is 
the name given to the spending deal struck last year by Mr. Bush and 
Mr. Calderon. But Congress was left out of the initial deal making, 
resulting in hard feelings when Mr. Bush submitted the plan.

The trims to the president's plan, and the strings attached by 
lawmakers in Washington, clearly irked some Mexicans. The Mexican 
government was working behind the scenes in Washington to soften some 
of the legislative language, Congressional aides said. The newspaper 
La Jornada said in an editorial this week that it was "a grotesque 
and absurd pretension" that the United States, which has human rights 
issues of its own in its detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, should 
be scrutinizing Mexico's armed forces.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, dismissed such 
criticism in a speech on Wednesday introducing the spending plan.

"Since when is it bad policy, or an infringement of anything, to 
insist that American taxpayer dollars not be given to corrupt, 
abusive police or military forces in a country whose justice system 
has serious flaws and rarely punishes official misconduct?" he said. 
"This is a partnership, not a giveaway."

Mr. Bush's proposal called for spending for military hardware, mostly 
helicopters, but also programs to root out corruption within law 
enforcement agencies and increase the protection of witnesses. The 
Congressional plans would scrutinize any money directed to the army. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake