MEXICO CITY — The White House announced Monday a $1.4 billion military and security package to assist Mexico and several Central American countries in their fight against drug-trafficking groups threatening the region's democracies.
President Bush's will request an initial $550 million appropriation from Congress next week, with the rest of the funds to be distributed over the course of one or two years. The aid is to go for helicopters, police training and communications and data-processing equipment. The package "delivers vital assistance for our partners in Mexico and Central America, who are working to break up drug cartels and fight organized crime," Bush said. "All of these are urgent priorities of the United States, and the Congress should fund them without delay."
In Mexico, Guatemala and other countries in the region, drug traffickers have infiltrated police agencies, murdered scores of public officials and journalists,and gunned down or decapitated rivals.
The initial request includes $500 million for Mexico and another $50 million for six Central American countries. The aid would mark a ten-fold increase on annual drug assistance currently provided to Mexico.
The plan came after months of negotiations between U.S. and Mexican officials. Mexican diplomats had said that Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon would announce the plan at a joint appearance. But in the end, Bush made the official announcement at a Washington news conference.
"The Mexican state must confront organized crime groups that have enormous resources and highly sophisticated weapons," Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said at a news conference. "Given the dimensions of the problem, cooperation withthe government of the United States is indispensable."
Democratic leaders in Congress complained that the Bush administration drafted the proposal without consulting them.
"With 'Plan Mexico,' the devil will be in the details, and to this point, details are scarce," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement. "Dropping a $1.4 billion plan on our doorstep without much forewarning makes it harder to build a consensus."
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug wars since January 2006. And drug traffickers are said to be trying to influence next month's presidential elections in Guatemala: They are believed to have killed several dozen party officials and candidates in the past year.
Officials called the plan "the Merida Initiative," after the Mexican city where Bush and Calderon met in March to discuss security and other issues. But the Mexican media long ago dubbed the aid package "Plan Mexico," a reference to Plan Colombia, the 2000 initiative that has U.S. taxpayers spend billions to assist Colombia in battling its drug cartels.
But Mexican officials stress that, unlike assistance to that South American country, no U.S. soldiers will be placed on Mexican soil.
Plan Colombia has strengthened that country's judicial and police institutions but has done little to stop the flow of cocaine north. Mexico and Central America are key way stations in the shipment of cocaine to the United States: U.S. official estimate that drug traffickers transfer $8 billion to $24 billion in profits from the U.S. to Mexico each year.
Bush announced the new plan as part of his supplemental funding request for military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan for the 2008 fiscal year.
Information for this article was contributed by Cecilia Sanchez and Maria Antonieta Uribe of the Los Angeles Times.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 10/23/2007