Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
5/20/2019 – Associated Press
Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says that the government is ending tax forgiveness, which for years had been a gift to the country’s biggest taxpayers. According to the government, the pardons were abused under the previous administrations of Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto to the tune of more than $15.5 billion uncollected since 2007.
5/20/2019 – Reuters
By Anthony Esposito
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, looking to make good on a promise to clean up rampant corruption, will go after judges that have aligned themselves with the country’s notorious drug cartels, a government official said.
5/17/2019 – Business Insider
By Laura Weiss
Mexico’s drug policies could be in for some sweeping changes, and with them the country’s relations with the United States.
Last week, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that his administration would seek to revise the Merida Initiative, the $3 billion US aid package that has largely funded Mexico’s war on drugs. In a press conference May 9, Lopez Obrador, widely known in Mexico as AMLO, said his administration does not “want aid for the use of force, we want aid for development.”
The announcement came shortly after the Mexican government released a National Development Plan for the next five years that proposes decriminalizing all drugs in Mexico. That plan, approved by Mexico’s Senate, also seeks to eradicate corruption and improve the justice system; guarantee jobs and higher education for children; and invest in infrastructure and health services through regional programs and development goals.
5/13/2019 – Forbes
By Janet Burns
Last week, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador released a plan calling for significant changes to the country’s drug policy, and inviting the United States to pursue the same.
In his National Development Plan for 2019-2024, President López Obrador (also known as AMLO) outlined the goals of decriminalizing illegal drugs in Mexico and diverting funds used for narcotics enforcement toward “massive, but personalized” treatment programs for drug abusers, CNBC reported.
5/13/2019 – The Hill
By Victoria Neilson And Anna Gallagher
The Trump administration has been contemptuous of refugees and asylum seekers from its earliest days. In recent weeks, as White House adviser Stephen Miller has reportedly exerted greater influence in the White House, we have witnessed a dismantling of protections our country has held dear for decades.
On May 7, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a stay on a legal challenge to an administration policy that forces asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting an immigration court hearing on their claims in the United States. This is just one step of the litigation, and the federal court challenge will continue. But in the interim, thousands of people who believed in the hope the United States has traditionally offered will be returned to Mexico’s most dangerous cities, without being asked about the serious risks they face while waiting. Make no mistake, people will likely die because of this policy.
5/10/2019 – The Hill
By Rafael Bernal
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday he wants to reorient American military and security aid toward funding development programs that combat poverty.
Speaking at his daily press conference, López Obrador criticized the Merida Initiative, saying the security cooperation agreement “hasn’t worked. We don’t want cooperation for the use of force, we want cooperation for development.”
5/10/2019 – The Washington Post
By Mary Beth SheridanMEXICO CITY — For 11 years, the United States has tried to help Mexico fight narcotrafficking and other organized crime through a historic, $3 billion plan called the Mérida Initiative. Washington has sent helicopters, trained police and even helped redesign the justice system.
Now Mexico’s new president is saying: Basta.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in December as Mexico’s first democratically elected leftist president, says he’d like to “reorient” the program away from crime-fighting and toward investment in social programs.
