VZCZCXRO4720
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #6042/01 3392112
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 052112Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9790
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0096
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USNORTHCOM
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 006042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX, INR, INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON MX
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY ENGAGES MEXICAN LEGISLATORS ON 
MERIDA INITIATIVE 
 
 
MEXICO 00006042  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  At an October 29 dinner with senior 
members of Mexico,s congress, Deputy Secretary had the 
opportunity to address some of the issues raised both in the 
U.S. and Mexico regarding the announced Merida Initiative. 
While members of the three principal parties in both chambers 
indicated some concerns with the way the Merida Initiative 
has been handled by the GOM to date, none registered serious 
objections to the substance of the program; each agreed that 
circumstances in Mexico warranted stronger law enforcement 
cooperation. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Late business in the Chamber of Deputies kept all 
but one lower house invitee from attending the dinner (PRI 
deputy Juan Manuel Paras Gonzales).  However, all three of 
the principal Senate power brokers attended, including Senate 
President Santiago Creel (PAN), Political Coordinator Manlio 
Fabio Beltrones (PRI) and PRD leader Carlos Navarrete. 
Former Foreign Minister and current Senate Foreign Affairs 
Commission President Rosario Green (PRI) and North America 
Commission head Senator Ricardo Garcia Cervantes (PAN) also 
participated.   Ambassador Negroponte was accompanied by 
Assistant Secretary for Western Hemispere Affairs Tom 
Shannon, Ambassador Garza, Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie 
Basset, Embassy Political Counselor and the Embassy,s 
Narcotics Affairs Section Chief. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The group took pains to outline the party 
composition of both chambers for the benefit of the Deputy 
Secretary, stressing the strength Congress has gained in 
 
SIPDIS 
recent years.  It is a key institutional player in Mexican 
politics.   Both chambers are more self-confident and 
assertive than in years past; the agenda during this current 
legislature is particularly ambitious.  This narrative served 
to drive home the point that Mexico,s Congress is an 
institution that expects to be taken seriously and play a 
significant role in shaping policy in areas such as security 
and law enforcement. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)   Senator Green pointedly asked the Deputy 
Secretary why the unveiling of the Merida Initiative had been 
 
SIPDIS 
&so badly managed,8 asserting that US-GOM consultations had 
been conducted secretively and that legislators, at least in 
Mexico, felt blind-sided by the October 22 announcement. 
While others at the table, PAN legislators in particular, 
opined that Senator Green might be overstating  her case, 
they too agreed that the GOM had to do a better job 
consulting Congress as the program moves forward (while 
granting that Congress here has no real statutory or 
budgetary authority over the initiative).  The Senate leaders 
contrasted U.S. outreach to the U.S. congress favorably with 
GOM,s own &meager8 efforts, noting that the information 
they had on the initiative,s key elements came from the U.S. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The Deputy Secretary advised that the U.S. 
administration had faced its own criticism in Congress for 
not having consulted fully enough in advance of announcing 
the initiative.  Such criticism, he said, was part and parcel 
of executive-legislative relations, as well as the need for 
the two governments to develop a proposal that could be 
advanced for consideration.  He stressed that the initiative 
was the result of the strong personal commitment of 
presidents Bush and Calderon when they met in March.  He 
assured his interlocutors that the October 22 announcement 
was only the beginning of a dialogue among relevant players 
in both Mexico and the U.S. 
 
¶6. (SBU)   Process concerns aside, dinner participants agreed 
that the security situation in Mexico is grave, that both 
countries bear responsibility for confronting narcotics 
trafficking and related criminality, and that the Merida 
Initiative represents a logical step in the effort to 
strengthen the relationship.   Even PRD,s Carlos Navarette, 
whose party is sharply critical of the U.S. on many fronts 
agreed he recognizes the need for a strengthened law 
enforcement partnership between the U.S. and Mexico.  Embassy 
Comment:  Naverette is considered to be a PRD moderate and is 
well regarded by many in the GOM for his flexibility.  His 
comments reflected what other PRD moderates have told us. 
Private words aside, however, Navarette and other PRD 
legislators can be expected to mount public criticism of the 
 
MEXICO 00006042  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
package as it moves forward.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA