Meeting Delegations

Congressional delegations from Mexico and the United States are in the midst of a meeting in Monterrey, with the Mérida Initiative dominating the talks. Strangely, the Mexican media refers to the talks as the 47^th Intra-parliamentary Reunion, a showy title which gives the whole thing the flavor of a major golf tournament or awards ceremony. Maybe next year they can see if Jim Nantz is available to host the thing. Thankfully, the Associated Press’ Mark Walsh avoids any formal label in his write-up.

Anyway, one of the proposals regarding the Mérida Initiative and its bumpy road to approval is to incorporate the package into the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. That may or may not be a good idea on its own, but it’s hard to see how it gets at the root of the problem: the US wants to have a bigger say over how Mexico spends its aid money than Mexico is prepared to give. The only real solution is for one side to concede. If the suggestion, proposed by American embassy official Leslie Bassett, is a half-assed scheme to get Mexico to agree to American conditions without the outcry south of the border, then it’s bound to fail.