Pubdate: Sun, 05 May 2013
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

IN LATIN AMERICA, U.S. FOCUS SHIFTS FROM DRUG WAR TO ECONOMY.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - In February 2009, Attorney General Eric H. 
Holder Jr. declared that international drug trafficking posed "a 
sustained, serious threat" to Americans. Two months later, President 
Obama, in his first visit as president to Mexico, made it clear that 
no issue dominated relations between the two countries more, saying 
drug cartels there were "sowing chaos in our communities."

Last week, Mr. Obama returned to capitals in Latin America with a 
vastly different message. Relationships with countries racked by drug 
violence and organized crime should focus more on economic 
development and less on the endless battles against drug traffickers 
and organized crime capos that have left few clear victors. The 
countries, Mexico in particular, need to set their own course on 
security, with the United States playing more of a backing role.

That approach runs the risk of being seen as kowtowing to governments 
more concerned about their public image than the underlying problems 
tarnishing it.

Mexico, which is eager to play up its economic growth, has mounted an 
aggressive effort to play down its crime problems, going as far as to 
encourage the news media to avoid certain slang words in reports.

"The problem will not just go away," said Michael Shifter, president 
of the Inter-American Dialogue. "It needs to be tackled head-on, with 
a comprehensive strategy that includes but goes beyond stimulating 
economic growth and alleviating poverty.

"Obama becomes vulnerable to the charge of downplaying the region's 
overriding issue, and the chief obstacle to economic progress," he 
added. "It is fine to change the narrative from security to economics 
as long as the reality on the ground reflects and fits with the new 
story line."

Administration officials insist that Mr. Obama remains cleareyed 
about the security challenges, but the new emphasis corresponds with 
a change in focus by the Mexican government. The new Mexican 
president, Enrique Pena Nieto, took office in December vowing to 
reduce the violence that exploded under the militarized approach to 
the drug war adopted by his predecessor, Felipe Calderon. That effort 
left about 60,000 Mexicans dead and appears not to have significantly 
damaged the drug-trafficking industry.

In addition to a focus on reducing violence, which some critics have 
interpreted as taking a softer line on the drug gangs, Mr. Pena Nieto 
has also moved to reduce American involvement in law enforcement 
south of the border. With friction and mistrust between American and 
Mexican law enforcement agencies growing, Mr. Obama suggested that 
the United States would no longer seek to dominate the security agenda.

"It is obviously up to the Mexican people to determine their security 
structures and how it engages with other nations, including the 
United States," he said, standing next to Mr. Pena Nieto on Thursday 
in Mexico City. "But the main point I made to the president is that 
we support the Mexican government's focus on reducing violence, and 
we look forward to continuing our good cooperation in any way that 
the Mexican government deems appropriate."

In some ways, conceding leadership of the drug fight to Mexico hews 
to a guiding principle of Mr. Obama's foreign policy, in which 
American supremacy is played down, at least publicly, in favor of a 
multilateral approach.

But that philosophy could collide with the concerns of lawmakers in 
Washington, who have expressed frustration with what they see as a 
lack of clarity in Mexico's security plans. And security analysts say 
the entrenched corruption in Mexican law enforcement has long clouded 
the partnership with their American counterparts.

Putting Mexico in the driver's seat on security marks a shift in a 
balance of power that has always tipped to the United States and, 
analysts said, will carry political risk as Congress negotiates an 
immigration bill that is expected to include provisions for tighter 
border security.

"If there is a perception in the U.S. Congress that security 
cooperation is weakening, that could play into the hands of those who 
oppose immigration reform," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a 
counternarcotics expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"Realistically, the border is as tight as could be and there have 
been few spillovers of the violence from Mexico into the U.S.," she 
added, but perceptions count in Washington "and can be easily distorted."

"Drugs today are not very important to the U.S. public over all," she 
added, "but they are important to committed drug warriors who are 
politically powerful."

Representative Michael T. McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman 
of the Homeland Security Committee, has warned against the danger of 
drug cartels forming alliances with terrorist groups. "While these 
threats exist, you would be surprised to find that the administration 
thinks its work here is done," he wrote in an opinion article for 
Roll Call last month, pressing for more border controls in the bill.

The Obama administration has said any evidence of such cooperation is 
very thin, but even without terrorist connections, drug gangs pose 
threats to peace and security.

Human rights advocates said they feared the United States would ease 
pressure on Mexico to investigate disappearances and other abuses at 
the hands of the police and military, who have received substantial 
American support.

The shift in approach "suggests that the Obama administration either 
doesn't object to these abusive practices or is only willing to raise 
such concerns when it's politically convenient," said Jose Miguel 
Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division.

Still, administration officials have said there may have been an 
overemphasis on the bellicose language and high-profile hunts for 
cartel leaders while the real problem of lawlessness worsens.

American antidrug aid is shifting more toward training police and 
shoring up judicial systems that have allowed criminals to kill with 
impunity in Mexico and Central America.

United States officials said Mr. Obama remains well aware of the 
region's problems with security, even as he is determined that they 
not overshadow the economic opportunities.

It is clear Mr. Obama, whatever his words four years ago, now 
believes there has been too much security talk.

In a speech to Mexican students on Friday, Mr. Obama urged people in 
the two countries to look beyond a one-dimensional focus on what he 
called real security concerns, saying it is "time for us to put the 
old mind-sets aside." And he repeated the theme later in the day in 
Costa Rica, lamenting that when it comes to the United States and 
Central America, "so much of the focus ends up being on security."

"We also have to recognize that problems like narco-trafficking arise 
in part when a country is vulnerable because of poverty, because of 
institutions that are not working for the people, because young 
people don't see a brighter future ahead," Mr. Obama said in a news 
conference with Laura Chinchilla, the president of Costa Rica.

Michael D. Shear reported from San Jose, and Randal C. Archibold from 
Mexico City. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom