Security and Immigration Frame Calderón's DC Visit

President of Mexico Felipe Calderón pays a visit to Washington this week amid ongoing drug-war worries and rising U.S. tensions over immigration. In his first state visit to Washington since his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama took office, Calderón will also address a joint session of Congress. He is expected to stress bilateral responsibility in combating organized crime and cartel-related bloodshed in Mexico. But controversy over Arizona’s passage of immigration legislation SB1070 has pushed immigration higher up Calderón’s agenda as well. Moreover, with Mexico’s financial health tied to that of its northern neighbor, the visit will also focus on bilateral trade and economic cooperation, particularly a dispute over a cross-border trucking plan. “Calderón’s visit is a symbolically important step. But it occurs at a critical time in the bilateral relationship and it may prove to be the best chance that both governments have to institutionalize a process for cooperation and collaboration in advance of the national elections that both countries will face in 2012,” says COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth.

With drug-war-related violence at an all-time high, Calderón may find himself striking a balance between ringing alarm bells over and shoring up confidence in his country’s control over security issues. Roughly 23,000 people have died in violence stemming from the conflict since the president declared war on organized crime in January 2007. Faith in the battle’s progress was shaken again by the May 15 disappearance of former presidential candidate Diego Fernández de Cevallos, a high-ranking political figure from Calderón’s own party. The kidnapping raised the specter of Colombia’s once-violent struggle against cartels and led Calderón to say, while at an EU-Latin American summit this week, that Mexico will not see organized crime escalate as it did in Colombia during the 1990s.

“The only battle in which we are not advancing well is the battle of perception,” said Calderón in a Reuters interview last week. The president has pointed out that Mexico’s homicide rate of 12 deaths per 100,000 residents ranks lower than that of Washington, DC, the capital he visits this week. As Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan told El Universal, the president will make it clear that the two countries “will sink or swim together” when it comes to the drug cartel fight.

The message has not been lost on the Obama administration. In March 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked of “co-responsibility” in fighting organized crime, a sentiment echoed by Obama during his own visit a month later. When Clinton again traveled to Mexico in March this year, she brought a high-level delegation with her to discuss the $1.4 billion Merida Inititiative, a security pact to support counternarcotics efforts in Mexico and Central America. In bilateral talks, officials unveiled plans to build on the security aspect of the program with funding for institution and community building.

But even as security concerns loom over Calderón’s visit, Arizona’s April approval of SB1070 put immigration front and center for this week’s meetings. The law, scheduled to take effect over the summer, allows local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws and arrest undocumented immigrants. It also paves the way for Arizona’s police officers to request identification in cases where they have “reasonable suspicion” that a person may be in the country illegaly, sparking criticism that the legislation would lead to racial profiling. Calderón categorized the law as “unacceptable racial discrimination” and the Mexican government issued a travel warning for Mexicans traveling to Arizona. Obama is expected to voice his support for comprehensive immigration reform during Calderón’s visit.

A third issue of importance during the meetings will be the matter of a cross-border trucking program halted by U.S. Congress over a year ago. After Washington ended a pilot program—designed to meet agreements carved out in NAFTA—that allowed Mexican trucks to carry cargo into the United States, Mexico retaliated with $2.4 billion-worth of tariffs on U.S. goods. Earlier this month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood said the Obama administration will soon unveil a new cross-border trucking plan. Will he use Calderón’s visit as the chance to do so?

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda recommends that Mexico and the United States “‘de-narcoticize’ their relationship and make their goal Mexico's development and transformation into a middle-class society.” Writing in the new issue of Americas Quarterly, Alma Guillermoprieto argues that poverty fuels the link between organized crime and politics in Latin America. She urges social reforms to close the gap on social inequalities.

Learn more:

• AS/COA hosts "Mexico: Economic Challenges in its Bicentennial Year" in Mexico City on May 25, focusing on the country's economic outlook and bilateral relations. Check www.as-coa.org website on May 25 for liveblogging of the conference - in English y en español.
• The Spring 2010 issue of Americas Quarterly explores trafficking and transnational crime as a threat to democracy in the hemisphere.
• Mexican presidential website’s statement on the May 19-20 visit.
• Text of Arizona immigration law SB1070.
• The Los Angeles Times’ “Mexico under Siege” multimedia coverage.
• Newsweek’s Declassified blog looks at whether gun smuggling to Mexico could be on the rise.