Obama backs Mexican drug fight, vows to build non-differential partnership with Latin American countries

U.S. president backs Mexican drug fight

2009-04-17 04:57:04

·Obama promised that America would do more to halt the southward flow of guns and capital to Mexico. ·"It is critical that we join together around the issues that can be solved by the two nations," Obama said. ·The two sides will have to stand side by side in promoting common security and prosperity, Obama noted.

MEXICO CITY, April 16 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama, on his first visit to Mexico on Thursday, publicly backed Mexico's battle against drug traffickers and promised the United States would do more to halt the southward flow of guns and capital that fuel the conflict.

"At a time when the Mexican government has taken on the drug cartels which have plagued both sides of the border, it is critical that the United States joins as a full partner ... on our side of the border, dealing with the flow of guns and cash south," Obama, who took office on Jan. 20, told a public welcoming ceremony given by his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon.

Calderon's government began a fierce battle against the nation's drug cartels within weeks of taking office in December 2006. During 2008, some 6,300 people died as the Mexican army and police fought the cartels and the cartels fought each other for territory.

In recent weeks, Mexico has focused diplomatic efforts on how guns coming from the United States help fuel the conflict. Last week, Mexico's ambassador the United States, Arturo Sarurkhan, told media there that 90 percent of weapons were brought into Mexico from the United States, where gun laws are looser than in Mexico.

"When Mexico is not just a regional leader but a global leader, it is critical that we join together around the issues that can be solved by the two nations," Obama said, identifying poverty and climate change specifically among these.

George W. Bush, Obama's predecessor, was reluctant to act on climate change and kept the United States out of the Kyoto Protocol on the issue.

"The United States and Mexico will have to stand side by side in promoting common security and prosperity," Obama noted.

He did not give any direct reply to comments in the welcome speech given by Felipe Calderon urging the United States to conduct a comprehensive migratory reform: a project that evaded Bush, as the U.S. legislature rejected several bills on the topic during his presidency. Obama recently raised the topic at a meeting with the Congress' Hispanic caucus, a group of U.S. legislators with roots in the Spanish speaking Americas.

Also missing from the speech was any discussion of a recent U.S.-Mexico trade dispute. In March, Mexico set new duties worth 2.4 billion dollars on 89 U.S. products in retaliation to the U.S. Congress' cancellation of a pilot program for Mexican cross-border truckers.

The United States had committed to allow Mexican truckers in 1994, as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by both nations. The pilot program began over a decade late in 2007.

Obama will spend Thursday and Friday in Mexico before traveling to Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago, for the fifth Summit of the Americas.

Obama vows to build non-differential partnership with Latin American countries

2009-04-17 03:10:45

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 16 (Xinhua) --

On the eve of the fifth Summit of the Americas, U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States is committed to build a non-differential partnership with countries in the Latin America.

"There has always been a tradition of concern that the United States has been heavy-handed when it comes to foreign policy in Latin America," said the president on Wednesday in an interview by CNN reporter Juan Carlos Lopez.

"That's not something that just arose during the Bush administration. That's something that dates back to the Monroe Doctrine and a long history of U.S. involvement in Latin America. So the important message I think I have to send is that we live in the 21st century now. Times have changed," said Obama.

"And if we have an attitude of partnership, there are going to be times where countries disagree, but that's not just true between the United States and Latin American countries; between Latin American countries there are disagreements. That's the nature of foreign policy."

"But I think that we can put our foreign policy on a solid footing so that moving forward it's constructive, and ultimately we're making lives better for ordinary people in all countries," the president said, stressing "There's no senior partner or junior partner."

The president will attend the fifth Summit of the Americas scheduled from Friday to Sunday in Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago. The summit is viewed by Obama and his administration as an opportunity to reengage with the Latin American countries.

Leaders from 34 countries of America are expected to discuss and make decisions on issues of relevance for the Western hemisphere at the summit, which is themed as "Securing our Citizens Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."

"The president is committed to building strong and productive partnerships in the hemisphere and believes the summit represents an important step toward achieving this objective," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs at a previous press briefing.

The administration has realized that in recent years the United States has turned its attention elsewhere, has neglected its relationships in this part of the world, Jeffrey Davidow, Obama's adviser on the summit, told reporters in a special press briefing on Monday.

"We see this trip as part of the process of the United States reengaging with this hemisphere. This is not a one-off event," said Davidow.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

At least 16 die in Mexican shootout

2009-04-17 09:34:58

MEXICO CITY, April 16 (Xinhua) --

At least 16 people have died in a gun fight between Mexican soldiers and a drug gang in the country's southern state of Guerrero, the regional prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

The clash took place Wednesday close to the town of San Nicolasde Oro while U.S. President Barack Obama is visiting Mexico City.

During a routine patrol, Mexican soldiers stopped a vehicle that belonged to drug trafficking suspects, who opened fire rather than allowed a search. Some 15 traffickers and one soldier died in the shootout.

Troops later seized 20 automatic rifles, nine vans, some pistols and explosives on the spot.

Some 6,300 people died in drug-related killings in Mexico last year and the violence has begun to spill over into the United States.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Mexican president calls for "new era" at start of U.S. president's visit

2009-04-17 04:50:00

MEXICO CITY, April 16 (Xinhua) --

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday urged visiting U.S. President Barack Obama to join him in a "new era" of trust and cooperation, in a speech that covered the topics of migration reform and border security.

"We have the opportunity for a new era of trust and cooperation," Calderon said at a public welcoming ceremony for the U.S. leader.

Obama, who took office on Jan. 20, will be in Mexico City on Thursday and Friday, before traveling to Port of Spain, capital of the Caribbean nation Trinidad and Tobago, for the fifth Summit of the Americas.

Calderon said that the new era should include "the active promotion of global solutions to the great challenges of our time," listing climate change and the economic crisis among them.

George W. Bush, Obama's predecessor, had resisted action on climate change, keeping his nation out of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, for instance.

Calderon also emphasized his country's efforts against drug trafficking, saying that "Mexico is facing up to the costs of turning Mexico into a safer place."

Calderon's government embarked on a war against drug traffickers within weeks of taking office in December 2006. Battles between the cartels and the government and between cartels killed over 6,300 last year.

In recent weeks, Mexico has been emphasizing the role of U.S. arms traffickers and money launderers in the fight against the cartels. This weekend Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhhan, told media there that 90 percent of the cartels' weapons come in illegally from the United States, where arms trading laws are laxer than in Mexico.

As part of the new era, the United States "would reach a comprehensive migratory reform," Calderon said. "Mexico needs U.S. investment just as the United States needs the push of Mexican labor."

Former president Bush had pushed for migratory reform during his term, but the U.S. legislature refused to pass several versions of the legislation that were presented to it. Obama revived talk of the reform during a meeting this month with the Congress' Hispanic caucus, a group of U.S. legislators whose ancestors came from the Spanish speaking Americas.

Absent from the speech was any talk of a trade dispute that erupted this year. In March, Mexico imposed retaliatory sanctions on 89 U.S. goods that had previously had no import duties, after the U.S. canceled a pilot program to allow Mexican long-haul trucks up to 100 miles inside its borders. Cross-border trucking had been part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement signed by the two nations, but was only partly implemented in 2007after more than a decade of delays.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Obama: U.S. seeks to renew "broader partnership" with other nations in western hemisphere

2009-04-17 04:58:42

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 16 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barrack Obama pledges on Thursday to renew and sustain a "broader partnership" with other states in the western hemisphere.

"Too often, the United States has not pursued and sustained engagement with our neighbors," Obama said in an editorial that was carried in 15 Carribean, Latin American and U.S. newspapers.

"We have been too easily distracted by other priorities, and have failed to see that our own progress is tied directly to progress throughout the Americas," he said.

"My administration is committed to renewing and sustaining a broader partnership between the United States and the hemisphere on behalf of our common prosperity and our common security," the president said.

The editorial, titled "Choosing a better future in the Americas," was released on the eve of the 5th Summit of the Americas to be held this weekend in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where the president will join other 33 leaders to discuss challenges facing the hemisphere.

Obama urged leaders at the summit to focus on issues such as the economic crisis but not on the U.S.-Cuba relationship, which "is one example of a debate in the Americas that is too often dragged back to the 20th century."

"To confront our economic crisis, we don't need a debate about whether to have a rigid, state-run economy or unbridled and unregulated capitalism -- we need pragmatic and responsible action that advances our common prosperity," he said.

Citing his recent amendment to "a Cuba policy that has failed for decades," he said that his administration has already moved "in a new direction."

Earlier this week, the United States announced measures to remove restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba, but refrained from lifting the decades-long trade embargo against the country.

Many leaders of Latin American and Caribbean states, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, are calling for the inclusion of Cuba into regional bodies like the Organization of American States.

The Summit of the Americas is scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from Friday to Sunday while Cuba was barred from attending as part of an exclusion based on U.S. attempts to isolate the country.

The Cuba issue, though not on the official agenda, is expected to be raised during the three-day summit.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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