Guadalajara Plays Host to North American Leaders

Updated August 10 - The leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States met August 9 and 10 for the first North American Leader’s Summit since U.S. President Barack Obama took office. More than six months into his term, Obama has met with each leader multiple times, already visiting Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa and President Felipe Calderón in Mexico City As in those cases, the summit in Guadalajara focused on issues such as trade, climate change and renewable energy, border issues, migration, and security.

The crisis over the coup in Honduras was also on the docket this time. All three leaders voiced support for the restoration of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, but Obama responded to criticism over Washington's role. "The same critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras are the same people who say that we're always intervening, and the Yankees need to get out of Latin America," he said. "You can't have it both ways."

That the meeting took place in Mexico’s second biggest city drew attention to challenges facing the host country. Infected by the financial drag ailing the United States, Mexico’s economy also fell victim this year to the outbreak of A/H1N1 flu and a barrage of bad news about bloody drug cartel violence. Last week Banamex predicted that Mexico’s economy could shrink by 6.8 percent in 2009. Moreover, despite the president’s high approval rating, Calderón’s party saw its congressional mandate diminished as the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party swept a majority of House of Deputy seats in July elections.

As former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jim Jones said at a recent COA panel, the two-day summit gave Obama and Harper a chance to show its support for the Calderón government. The White House has already taken steps in recent months to acknowledge the U.S. role in the arms trafficking and money laundering that fuel cartel crime in Mexico. In a March visit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said combating trafficking involved “co-responsibility”—a sentiment echoed during Obama’s meeting weeks later. More recently, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton announced a plan to coordinate intelligence sharing in the area of illegal arms trafficking. As the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Andrew Selee wrote August 1 in the Houston Chronicle, fears about violence brought bilateral dependence to light: “We are geographically, economically and socially joined at the hip.”

Still, Obama carried with him news that a decision in U.S. Congress could hold up roughly $56 million of dollars in funding for a joint security collaboration known as the Merida Initiative. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said 15 percent of this year’s funding of the $1.4 billion program should be placed on hold until the State Department submits a report ensuring that the Mexican military adheres to the rule of law. Leahy raised concerns that the Mexican military deployed in areas of heavy cartel activity may have engaged in human right abuses. Mexico’s Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa responded Thursday by saying there had been isolated cases but that “[t]he Mexican army has acted correctly in its fight against organized crime.” The stalled money includes funds for intelligence, record-keeping, and military equipment. The State Department says the required report is in draft stages. At the summit, Obama commended the work done by the Mexican government in terms of confronting security concerns.

Harper announced a proposal to support Mexican anti-narcotics efforts with $15 million per year in Canadian funds to boost an anrti-crime capacity building program.

But security was far from the only concern. In its preview of the summit, The Economist examines trilateral successes in areas such as public health and security as well as hurdles the leaders needed to overcome. One worry expressed by Canadian and Mexican officials involved the matter of creeping protectionism exemplified by a "Buy American" clause in a U.S. stimulus package. The interconnected nature of the three countries' economies has been demonstrated by burgeoning trade. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the three countries saw trade in goods grow from $207 billion in 1993 to $930 billion in 2007. During the press conference, Obama described the "Buy America" clause as compliant with World Trade Organization regulations.

Migration issues were also discussed, including the matter of Canada’s recent imposition of new visa requirements for Mexican visitors. Harper responded to concerns over the visa requirement by saying the new rules had little to do with fault on the part of the Mexican government and more to do with weaknesses in Canada's refugeed laws that make it feasable for people to falsely claim need for asylum. Facing questions about Washington's stalled immigration reform, Obama suggested that changes to federal U.S. immigration law would have to wait until 2010.

Learn more:

• Joint press conference of three leaders on August 10, 2009.
• North American Competitiveness Council Statement to Leaders in Advance of the 2009 North American Leaders' Summit
• “The Mexico Challenge,” by COA’s Eric Farnsworth, Poder magazine.
• Communiqué from the office of Prime Minister Harper regarding the Guadalajara summit.
• State Deparment's Dipnote blog coverage of Secretary Clinton’s July 16 meeting with Mexican foreign secretary and Canadian foreign minister.
• President Obama’s April 16 remarks in Mexico City.
• White House announcement of summit.
• Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.
• Office of the U.S. Trade Representative data on NAFTA.
• Canadian data on NAFTA and trade with Mexico.