Mexico with America
Hailey Hurowitz
11/27/12
1A
Mexico's new leader has a message for U.S. officials as he visits Washington this week: Ties between the neighboring nations must go beyond the drug war. Just four days before his inauguration, Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday. He says he wants to reshuffle the list of priorities the U.S. and Mexico share. A crackdown on cartels was a hallmark of President Felipe Calderon's 6 year tenure, and the U.S. gave its support, offering $1.6 billion to aid in the fight. Pena Nieto said he plans to focus more on reducing violence, but he's offered few specifics about that approach.
The 46-year-old former governor, who won Mexico's presidential vote in July, has said a top priority is to deepen economic ties with the U.S. The U.S. is Mexico's largest trading partner. The two countries share billions of dollars in imports and exports and a border that stretches nearly 2,000 miles. For the first time in more than a decade, economic issues are likely to dominate the agenda shared by Mexico and the U.S. This is because drug-related violence appears to have plateaued and illegal immigration in the U.S. from Mexico had dropped dramatically. Tuesday's meeting could signal a new approach to the relationship between the two countries.
Some people have said Obama neglected Latin America during his first term, and lambasted the U.S. president for not bringing up Mexico or other countries in the region during last month's foreign policy debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney. At a forum, Obama said the U.S. is committed to continuing to work alongside Mexico to fight organized crime.
At a forum hosted by the Spanish-language Univision network in September, Obama said the United States is committed to continuing to work alongside Mexico to fight organized crime. Both the White House and Pena Nieto's transition team have said security will be a key topic during Tuesday's meeting, and U.S. officials should continue to push for justice and human rights reforms south of the border. Immigration also is likely to come up Tuesday, since the topic is important to residents on both sides of the border. Topics also like, education partnerships between the two countries and global issues could also be on the table.
info from:http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/politics/mexico-president-us-visit/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
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