US drops a gentle hint
Since 2008, under the terms of the Mérida Initiative, the US Congress has channelled around US$2.3bn into Mexico to fund efforts to crack down on the drug running business – money that goes towards buying helicopter gunships, funding tighter border controls, and training members of the security services. This year US$148m is being sent – down by a symbolic US$5m on the amount that would otherwise be due, as a sign of Washington’s concern over the poor observation of human rights in the country. Will the Mexican government get the message?
Mérida Initiative
Under current US rules, Congress should release the full amount of Mérida Initiative funds every year, providing it receives a report from the State Department confirming that Mexico has met human rights goals. Up to 15% of total funding is subject to this confirmation. This year the report was not submitted.
The State Department had already expressed concern over the abduction and presumed murder of 43 student teachers in Iguala, Guerrero in September last year; over the apparent extra-judicial execution of 22 people by the army in Tlatlaya, Estado de México, in June 2014, and over various other incidents. The State Department has also spoken of Mexican security force involvement in torture and disappearances.
US$5m question
Now a decision has been taken to hold back US$5m. Off the record, US analysts and officials have described it as “an attempt to send a subtle message to the Mexican government without making a big deal about it through public pronouncements”. Another source said it was a signal of displeasure but “without any public criticism”, and as such, was designed to maintain Mexico and the US as “willing partners in the war on drugs”.
Will the US$5m hint work? It is hard to say. In an attempt to produce a balanced response the Mexican foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “observed with respect” the way the US State Department managed its relationship with the US Congress, but that it could not accept “unilateral practices to judge the human rights situation in any country”. However, it too tried to downplay the matter, adding that the two countries have a “mature and deep” bilateral relationship and a “solid dialogue” over how best to take forward the campaign against organised crime.
Weak position
Mexico’s position is clearly weak. While the government says it is committed to the observation of human rights in principle, there is a big gap between this and everyday realities. Iguala, Tlatlaya, and many other incidents show that the security forces have been infiltrated by criminal organisations and weakened by corruption. Reforms of the police and criminal justice system – some also partly funded by the US – have been dragging on for years with at best mixed results. Some other reform initiatives – such as the creation of unified state police forces – remain stuck in congress.
While the government’s reluctance to be judged unilaterally on human rights matters by its powerful northern neighbour is understandable, the fact is that multilateral organisations have also had serious criticism to make (see sidebar). Ultimately, tackling some of the worst cases will involve the federal government admitting that some of its own institutions are complicit or even directly responsible for major human rights violations. That implies a root-and-branch shake-up that, to date, the authorities seem to lack the political will to set in motion.
- International criticism
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have both criticised Mexico’s record on human rights in recent weeks [WR-15-41]. An international committee of experts appointed by the IACHR to look into the handling of the Iguala case has been devastatingly critical of the poor quality of the official investigation. And during a visit to Mexico this month Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, described the death toll from violence in the country between 2006 and 2015 as “simply staggering” (on the UN’s count a total of 151,233 people were killed in that period).
- New mint
On 14 October Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) announced plans to build a new US$180m banknote printing mint. The new mint that is to be located in the municipality of El Salto, Jalisco state, will be Banxico’s second and should help to satisfy the country’s demand for banknotes for years to come once it comes on stream in 2017. President Enrique Peña Nieto, who attended a groundbreaking ceremony in El Salto, which also marked the 90th anniversary of Banxico’s foundation, said that the new mint would ensure “the long-term provision of national currency, mitigating the risks associated with concentrating banknote printing in just one place”.