U.S., Mexico: A Mission to Meet with Calderon

The United States is sending several Cabinet-level officials to Mexico on March 23 to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and discuss further bilateral counternarcotics efforts. This follows the murder of three people connected to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The United States has allocated nearly half a billion dollars worth of counternarcotics aid for Mexico under the Merida Initiative, but the situation south of the border continues to deteriorate. While there has been an increase in cooperation between the two countries, there is still much room for improvement, and corruption and political issues (mostly on the Mexican side) still stand in the way.