Washington Watch - 06 May 2010
Central America: On 4 May the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, said that US cooperation with Central America on security would remain within the framework of the current US multi-year 'Mérida Initiative' for Central America and Mexico. The US insistence on maintaining cooperation within the Mérida Initiative will frustrate Central America leaders, led by El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes, who have repeatedly called on the US to either deepen the initiative (which assigns only US$100m of its US$550m budget for fiscal year 2009 to the region) or draft a specific plan for the sub-region. Valenzuela's remarks were made in El Salvador, as part of a week-long tour of Central America. He also announced an 18-month extension of the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for migrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. The TPS, which was due to expire on 5 July 2010, is granted to countries that have suffered natural disasters or civil wars and allows undocumented migrants to remain temporarily in the US with a work permit.
Mexico: On 29 April the Chihuahua state government called on its fellow border states to boycott the 28th annual meeting with their US counterparts scheduled for September. Already, Sonora has cancelled its annual bilateral meeting with the state government of Arizona to underline Mexican objections to a new law allowing state police to stop suspected undocumented immigrants and demand proof that they are in the US legally. The row is likely to colour President Felipe Calderón's forthcoming state visit to Washington on 19-20 May. The Mexican senate has called on the government to come up with an action plan over the next 90 days to persuade Arizona to rescind the legislation. Calderón's neglect of the immigration issue (coupled with a slacker US labour market due to the recession) has allowed anti-immigrant lobbying groups to seize the political initiative. The result is the anti-immigrant law in Arizona, which rightwing legislators in Oklahoma now say they want to introduce in their state. The US federal courts will almost certainly strike out the Arizona law on the grounds that it is discriminatory. The legislation, effectively, calls for the police to judge on racial appearance whether to ask a person for papers. It is significant that the ambitious (Republican) governor of Texas, Rick Perry, argued that introducing an Arizona-style law would not be right for Texas. He dodged the judicial issue, arguing on 29 April that it is wrong to use state police as auxiliary border patrol agents. Mexico's economic integration into the North American market is far more developed than other aspects of its relationship. In the first quarter of 2010, Mexico's vehicle exports to the US were up by 86%, year-on-year.
Mexico: On 4 May Fernando Gómez-Mont, Mexico's interior minister travelled to the US. He spoke at the Brookings Institution with his US counterpart Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary. Both delivered remarks on the ongoing and “groundbreaking" ways that the US and Mexico are working together to make the Southwest border region more secure and prosperous. "Over the last 15 months, the US and Mexico have forged unprecedented partnerships to strengthen the mutually reinforcing goals of securing the border and facilitating legal travel and commerce," said Napolitano. "We will continue to work closely with our Mexican counterparts to build a 21st century border that prioritizes security and enhances the US's economic competitiveness both along the border and throughout the country." Both emphasised what they described as the unparalleled level of collaboration between the US and Mexico to disrupt and dismantle drug cartels and combat criminal activity in the border regions—noting that, in the past year alone, illegal traffic across the Southwest border has decreased by 23 percent.
Trinidad and Tobago: On 5 May the US and Trinidad & Tobago published an “open skies" agreement. This comprehensive plan will expand and their bilateral civil aviation relationship. The agreement was initiated on 1 May, after three days of negotiations in Port-of-Spain between a delegation from the twin-island state and a US delegation from the Department of State and Department of Transportation. A US state department statement said the agreement “represents a market-oriented approach to aviation relations: airlines, not governments, will decide which cities to serve, the frequency of flights, the equipment used, and the prices charged". In addition it expected that the agreement would strengthen and broaden tourism and trading links between the two countries. The agreement in particular will benefit civil aviation in both as well as the consumers that use this service, “while preserving our commitments to aviation safety and security," the communiqué added. The agreement will supersede the 1990 aviation agreement and grant, for the first time, code-share opportunities and intermodal rights, and expand cargo opportunities. The US has nearly 100 'open skies' agreements in place.