By: Iñigo Guevara Moyano, Mexico Institute l Wilson Center.

Date: October 2016

Introduction: This paper is meant to provide a deeper understanding of the Mexican military and its contribution to the defense and security of North America. It does so by analyzing the evolution of Mexico’s armed forces, and the past and present cooperation between the Mexican and the U.S. militaries. The increase in dialogue and cooperation builds trust and promotes mutual understanding between Mexico and the United States, crafting deep ties between both militaries during a time when the radicalization of political ideas threatens to transcend electoral campaign rhetoric and affect the economic and social fields of North America.

By: Andrew Selee and Christopher Wilson, November 2012

The depth of economic ties with Mexico, together with declines in illegal immigration and organized crime violence in Mexico, Open up an opportunity for U.S. policymakers to deepen the economic relationship with Mexico and to engage Mexico more on major global issues. Security cooperation, especially strengthening institutions for rule of law and disrupting money laundering, will remain important to the relationship, and there are clear opportunities to reform the U.S. legal immigration system over the next few years, which would have important implications for the relationship with Mexico. The strongest engagement, going forward, is likely to be on the economic issues that can help create jobs for people on both sides of the border, and on the shared global challenges that both countries face.

Summary: “It’s time for a new alliance of the Americas. After eight years of the failed policies of the past, we need new leadership for the future. After decades pressing for top-down reform, we need an agenda that advances democracy, security, and opportunity from the bottom up. So my policy towards the Americas will be guided by the simple principle that what’s good for the people of the Americas is good for the United States. That means measuring success not just through agreements among governments, but also through the hopes of the child in the favelas of Rio, the security for the policeman in Mexico City, and the answered cries of political prisoners heard from jails in Havana.”

Title: Security and Migrants Along the U.S.-Mexico Border.

By: Adam Isacson and Maureen Meyer, April 2012

Once relatively quiet and neglected, the U.S.-Mexico border zone is a very different place than it was twenty years ago, or even ten years ago. Today, border communities are separated by both security measures and security conditions. South of the borderline, a spiral of organized crime has made Mexico’s northern states one of the world’s most violent regions. North of the borderline, a “war on drugs,” a “war on terror,” and rising anti-immigrant sentiment have encouraged a flurry of fence-building and a multiplied presence of guards, spies, and soldiers. Together, both sides comprise one of the world’s principal corridors for the transshipment of illegal drugs and weapons.

Fundado en 1983, el Instituto Nacional Demócrata para Asuntos Internacionales (NDI) es una organización internacional sin fines de lucro con sede en Washington, D.C. y oficinas más de 65 países, cuya misión es contribuir a promover y fortalecer la democracia. El NDI trabaja desarrollando programas de asistencia técnica a organizaciones civiles, gobiernos locales, congresos y parlamentos, partidos políticos y autoridades electorales. Desde 2013, la oficina del NDI en México se ha enfocado en fortalecer procesos de colaboración entre ciudadanía y autoridades para la construcción efectiva de políticas públicas en materia de seguridad ciudadana y proyectos relacionados con la promoción de la participación política de las mujeres.

By: Laura Starr y Maria Delle Donne

Date: 14 de diciembre de 2007

Summary: 

• Help for Mexico: the U.S. plan to support Calderon’s counter-narcotic initiative criticized for its secrecy, its assumptions, and its questionable evidence.
• Washington is encouraged to tackle the deadly magnitude of illicit U.S. weapons sales to Mexico and the mechanisms of supply and demand, as drug consumption rises in the country in spite of U.S. claims to the contrary.
• A redirection in policy could lead to a potentially problematic future, with dire results produced by U.S. drug policy and featuring Washington’s politicalization of the issue and inventing facts where none exist. 

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) publica su último reporte sobre la frontera sur de México y los problemas de seguridad de los migrantes, así como los fenómenos asociados de corrupción y violación de sus derechos humanos. Este reporte fue escrito por la integrante de CASEDE, Maureen Meyer, Adam Isacson y Hannah Smith. Se trata de uno de los documentos de investigación más actualizados sobre el tema. El reporte se titula "Increased Enforcement at Mexico's Southern Border. An Update on Security, Migration and U.S. Security".

Fuente: Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de Seguridad

Autor: Keyla H. Vargas Rojas

Resumen: En este artículo se examina la relación entre las Unidades de Inteligencia Financiera de México y los Estados Unidos para investigar flujos inusuales de dólares en México, así como para detectar una red transnacional de blanqueadores de dinero entre 2012 y 2014. Se mide el impacto tomando en consideración la evolución de la cooperación entre las Unidades a través de sus reportes anuales y documentos oficiales, aunado al Informe Anual del Grupo Egmont de Unidades de Inteligencia Financiera. Se analizan los procesos de intercambio de información entre ambas instituciones y evalúa su vinculación en la construcción de la inteligencia requerida para articular órdenes judiciales por lavado de dinero (LD). Se concluye que esta relación ha sido benéfica para ambos países, ya que existen casos exitosos de detención de criminales por blanqueo de capitales gracias al trabajo en conjunto de las Unidades.

Autor: José Luis Piñeyro. El Universal

Fecha: 24 de mayo, 2008.

Fragmento original: Este dicho de sentido común de carácter universal parece que es el que va a prevalecer en la asistencia estadounidense antinarcóticos a nuestro país vía el Plan México, el cual consiste en dotación de diverso equipo técnico y adiestramiento policiaco y militar por 350 millones de dólares para el año 2008.

Fuente: Drug War Chronicle, no. 534, 2 de mayo de 2008

Fragmento del original: This week, high-level US and Mexican officials spoke out in favor of Plan Mérida, the three-year, $1.4 billion anti-drug package designed to assist the Mexican government in its ongoing battle with violent drug trafficking organizations. But at the same time officials like Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were visiting Latin America to seek support for the plan, at a forum on drug policy in Culiacán, Sinaloa, home of one of the most feared of the drug trafficking groups, the Sinaloa Cartel, there was little but criticism of the proposed aid package.