US president Barack Obama has promised cooperation in fighting drug-trafficking and organised crime in Mexico following his meeting with his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto.
Appearing alongside his Mexican counterpart at a news conference on Thursday, Obama recommitted the US to fighting the demand for illegal drugs in the US and the flow of illegal guns across the border, even as its southern neighbour rethinks how much access it gives to American security agencies.
“I agreed to continue our close cooperation on security, even as the nature of that cooperation will evolve,” Obama said. “It is obviously up to the Mexican people to determine their security structures and how it engages with other nations, including the United States.”
Obama’s remarks come as Pena Nieto, in a shift from his predecessor, has moved to end the widespread access that US security agencies have had in Mexico.
The White House has been cautious in its public response to the changes, with the president and his advisers saying they need to hear directly from the Mexican leader before making a judgment.
Obama’s visit is part of a three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, his first to Latin America since winning re-election last year.
Pena Nieto said his government’s new security strategy emphasizes reducing violence. But he downplayed the notion that it would mean a diminished effort to fight organised crime, saying “there is no clash between these two goals.”
This so-called “single-door” policy would be an abrupt change from the wide latitude the US government previously enjoyed under Pena Nieto’s predecessor, Felipe Calderon.
“From their perspective, it’s the effort to have better control over all the aspects of security policy and make it more fluid,” said Maureen Meyer, a Mexico specialist with the Washington Office on Latin America, a US non-governmental organisation.
The change has raised concern about Mexico’s commitment to combating drug trafficking and drug-related violence.
