The Merida Initiative

Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton attends a press conference with Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa (not pictured) in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, March 23, 2010.

..."We are extending the Merida Initiative beyond what it was traditionally deemed to be," Clinton told a press conference with Mexico's Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa.

"It is not just about security, it is about working together to support society and economic development," Clinton said.

The Merida Initiative, started in 2007 under the administration of George W. Bush, provides money, equipment and training to the governments of Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to assist their counterdrug and anticrime efforts....

...Clinton's second visit to Mexico (click here) in her current post is part of a series of reviews of the Merida Initiative, a U.S.-Mexico project aimed at fighting cross-border drug trafficking. Mexico receives around 400 million dollars a year under the plan, which also spreads anti-organized crime funding across Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic....