Updated February 10, 2020
Mexico: Evolution of the Mérida Initiative, 2007-2020
Congress remains concerned about the effects of organized-
from each of the major drug trafficking organizations. This
crime-related violence in Mexico on U.S. security interests
“kingpin” strategy also fueled violence, as fractured drug
and U.S. citizens’ safety in Mexico. Homicides in Mexico
trafficking organizations fought to regroup and reorganize.
have reached record levels in each of the last three years as
criminal groups have fought for control of smuggling routes
The Four-Pillar Strategy:
into the United States. A year into his term, Mexican
FY2011-FY2017
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is under pressure
In 2011, the U.S. and Mexican governments broadened the
to develop a new security policy.
scope of bilateral efforts under four pillars that prioritized
institution building:
The November 2019 killing of an extended family of dual
citizens near the Arizona border in Mexico has led some
1. Combating transnational criminal
Members of Congress to call for increased oversight of
organizations through intelligence sharing and
bilateral efforts. This product provides a succinct overview
law enforcement operations;
of the roughly $3.1 billion appropriated for the Mérida
2. Institutionalizing the rule of law while
Initiative, López Obrador’s security strategy, and how to
protecting human rights through justice sector
assess bilateral security efforts.
reform, forensic equipment and training, and
Origins of the Mérida Initiative
federal- and state-level police and corrections
reform;
Prior to FY2007, Mexico did not receive large amounts of
U.S. security assistance, partially due to Mexican sensitivity
3. Creating a 21st-century U.S.-Mexican border
about U.S. involvement in the country’s internal affairs. In
while improving immigration enforcement in
March 2007, then-Mexican President Felipe Calderón asked
Mexico and security along Mexico’s southern
for expanded U.S. cooperation to fight criminal
borders; and
organizations and their cross-border trafficking operations.
4. Building strong and resilient communities by
In response, the Mérida Initiative, a package of U.S.
piloting approaches to address root causes of
antidrug and rule of law assistance to Mexico (and Central
violence and supporting efforts to reduce drug
America), began in October 2007.
demand and build a “culture of lawfulness”
through education programs.
As part of the Mérida Initiative’s emphasis on shared
Some analysts praised the wide-ranging cooperation
responsibility, the Mexican government pledged to tackle
between the governments. Others criticized the increasing
corruption. The U.S. government pledged to address drug
number of priorities they adopted. Experts warned it would
demand and the illicit trafficking of firearms and bulk
be difficult for Mexico to implement an accusatorial justice
currency to Mexico. Both governments have struggled to
system requiring better evidence collection by police and
fulfill those commitments. The December 2019 U.S. arrest
public trials with oral arguments in only eight years.
of Calderón’s former public security minister for allegedly
Mexico’s Congress established the eight-year transition to a
taking millions in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel
new justice system in 2008 constitutional reforms.
demonstrated Mexico’s endemic corruption. High levels of
U.S. opioid-related deaths and rising methamphetamine
U.S. technology and training under pillar one supported
demand illustrate challenges in addressing U.S. drug
Mexican intelligence-gathering and information-sharing
consumption.
efforts, including biometrics and telecommunications.
Initial Funding for the Mérida Initiative:
Under pillar two, U.S. agencies provided more than $400
FY2008-FY2010
million in training, courtroom infrastructure, and technical
assistance to support Mexico’s transition to an accusatorial
During the first three years of the Mérida Initiative,
justice system at the federal and state levels. Pillar three
Congress appropriated some $1.5 billion, including $420.7
expanded beyond efforts to modernize the U.S.-Mexican
million in foreign military financing (FMF), which enabled
border to include more than $100 million in training and
the purchase of equipment, including aircraft and
equipment for securing Mexico’s southern border. Under
helicopters, to support Mexico’s federal security forces
pillar four, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(military and police). Congress withheld 15% of certain
(USAID) implemented $25 million in human rights
U.S. aid for the Mexican military and police until the State
programs and $90 million in crime prevention projects.
Department submitted an annual report stating that Mexico
FMF has not been part of the Mérida Initiative since
was taking steps to meet human rights requirements. U.S.
FY2011, but the State Department and the U.S. Department
assistance focused on (1) counternarcotics, border security,
of Defense coordinate their assistance. Although all U.S.
and counterterrorism; (2) public security; and (3) institution
security assistance to Mexico is subject to human rights
building. U.S. assistance and intelligence supported
vetting requirements (known as Leahy Laws), additional
Mexico’s strategy of arresting (and extraditing) kingpins
human-rights-related aid restrictions only apply to FMF.
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Mexico: Evolution of the Mérida Initiative, 2007-2020
Trump Administration Priorities
established through constitutional reforms in 2017, which
President Trump’s executive orders on combatting
has received significant Mérida Initiative support.
transnational criminal organizations (E.O. 13773) and
enhancing border security (E.O. 13767) refocused the
In August 2019, the López Obrador Administration created
Mérida Initiative. Recent programs have emphasized
a High-Level Security Cooperation Group with the United
combating the production and distribution of opioids and
States that includes the Mérida Initiative as one aspect of
other drugs, improving border interdiction and port
bilateral efforts. The Security Cooperation Group includes
security, and combating money laundering. In 2019,
eight working groups. Mexico has prioritized combating
President Trump praised Mexico’s stepped up efforts
arms trafficking, but other groups focus on drug policy,
against illegal migration but criticized Mexico’s antidrug
criminal justice reform, border security, and money
performance in his FY2021 “drug majors” determination.
laundering, among other issues. The working groups are
López Obrador Administration
likely to inform future Mérida Initiative projects.
Inaugurated in December 2018, President López Obrador
Assessing the Mérida Initiative
enjoys high approval ratings even though Mexico
Many analysts have observed the need for more reporting
experienced record homicides and zero growth in 2019.
on Mérida Initiative outcomes to help Congress oversee the
Mexico’s security strategy, released in February 2019,
funds it has appropriated. The State Department has pointed
includes a focus on addressing the socioeconomic drivers of
to some indicators of success. Those include (1)
violent crime. Thus far, López Obrador has implemented
intelligence-sharing and police cooperation that has helped
broad social programs rather than the type of targeted crime
capture and extradite high-profile criminals; (2) the creation
prevention efforts that USAID has endorsed. (See CRS
of national training standards for police, prosecutors, and
Report R42917, Mexico: Background and U.S. Relations.)
judges; and (3) assistance that has helped Mexico receive
President López Obrador has rejected calls for a “war” on
international accreditation of some of its prisons, labs, and
transnational criminal organizations, which he asserts
police training institutes.
would increase civilian casualties. He has also been hesitant
Despite those results, escalating violence in Mexico and
to embrace the so-called kingpin strategy employed by his
drug overdose deaths in the United States has led many to
two predecessors. Instead of bolstering the federal police,
question the overall efficacy of the Mérida Initiative. For
which had received significant U.S. equipment and training,
years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has
López Obrador backed constitutional reforms to allow
urged U.S. agencies working in Mexico to adopt outcome
military involvement in public security for five more years.
rather than just output measures. Rather than tracking the
Those reforms contradict a 2018 Mexico Supreme Court
number of police trained, GAO urges agencies to measure
ruling that prolonged military involvement in public
how U.S. training affected police performance. External
security violated the Mexican Constitution.
evaluations of USAID’s state-level justice reform programs
A dilemma for the future of the Mérida Initiative is whether
compare indicators such as case resolution rates and
and how the State Department will support the development
homicide prosecution rates in states where the agency has
of Mexico’s new National Guard. López Obrador secured
and has not worked.
congressional approval of a new National Guard (composed
mostly of military and former federal police) to reassert
Congressional Action
territorial control in high-crime areas throughout Mexico.
With the bipartisan support of Congress, the Mérida
He has also deployed the National Guard and other security
Initiative has comprised the majority of U.S. foreign aid
forces to secure oil pipelines. In 2019, under pressure from
provided to Mexico over the past decade. Congress
the United States, President López Obrador directed 25,000
provided $139 million in FY2019 for the Mérida Initiative
National Guard troops to help detain Central American
in P.L. 116-6 ($61 million above the budget request). The
migrants. Since the National Guard lacks investigatory
increased resources aimed to help address the flow of U.S.-
authority, any evidence it gathers is inadmissible in court.
bound opioids. For FY2020, Congress provided $150
This is a concern for U.S. policymakers who have
million for accounts that fund the Mérida Initiative in P.L.
supported criminal justice reform in Mexico. There are also
116-94 (some $73 million above the budget request).
concerns that its forces may violate human rights.
Congressional concern about the efficacy of U.S.-Mexican
security cooperation has increased in the wake of recent
Civil society and the private sector are urging President
high profile massacres in Mexico.
López Obrador to fulfill his pledges to combat corruption
and impunity. Mexico’s congress approved the creation of
For background, see CRS Report R41576, Mexico:
an independent prosecutor general’s office, but the
Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations;
individual selected for that post is the President’s close ally.
CRS In Focus IF10215, Mexico’s Immigration Control
The prosecutor general’s office remains underfunded and
Efforts; and CRS In Focus IF10400, Transnational Crime
has proposed reforms that would reverse many key
Issues: Heroin Production, Fentanyl Trafficking, and U.S.-
elements of the new justice system. While federal
Mexico Security Cooperation.
prosecutors have pursued corruption cases against the
former head of Petróleos Mexicanos and the former social
development minister, they have thus far ignored corruption
Clare Ribando Seelke, Specialist in Latin American
allegations involving López Obrador’s allies. The
Affairs
government has not yet specified how it will move forward
IF10578
to implement the national anti-corruption system
https://crsreports.congress.gov

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Mexico: Evolution of the Mérida Initiative, 2007-2020


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10578 · VERSION 15 · UPDATED

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