UNITED STATES - An “upgrading” of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) is still on the agenda, as is an overhaul in U.S. immigration policy, U.S. President–elect Barack Obama said after meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Washington on Monday, January 12.
Democrat Obama met Calderon, leader of the conservative Partido Accion Nacional (PAN), over a 90-minte lunch to discuss the global economic slowdown, immigration, trade and drug violence, in a meeting that was seen as vital in highlighting the tone the new U.S. president will set for policy not just in Mexico, but also towards Latin America.
Spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that Obama “expressed his continued commitment to upgrading Nafta to strengthen labor and environmental provisions to reflect the values that are widely shared in both of our countries.”
After publically opposing Obama’s plan to renegotiate during the U.S. presidential campaign, Calderon is thought to be skeptical about what exactly an “upgrading” of the treaty would mean. Calderon’s fear is that a more protectionist United States would reduce a shrinking Mexican export sector even further, causing more Mexicans to emigrate illegally north.
On returning to Mexico City, Calderon assured reporters that the renegotiation on Nafta will not be on the agenda and rejected out of hand the possibility of the issue being used as a makeweight in exchange for migratory reform.
“Like yesterday I said in my meeting with Obama, we are in a position to construct, using Nafta as a base, to gain further from commerce and to look at, as we always have been ready to do, themes that worry not only Americans but also Mexicans, for example labor issues and the environment,” said Calderon.
In general, both the Mexican and American representatives described the meeting as friendly and productive.
“We have such an extraordinary relationship between our two countries, one that my intention is to make stronger,” Obama told press after the meeting in the Mexican Cultural Institute.
The two discussed immigration and Obama talked about creating a “comprehensive” and “thoughtful” strategy that will aid both countries. Details still remain sketchy, but, according to Gibbs, Obama told Calderon he wants to “fix the broken U.S. immigration system” and end the “flow of illegal immigration,” although the appointment of the Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary may not have gone down well in Mexican government circles. She has previously supported the use of the National Guard and the erection of a wall in her home state.
With the drug war showing no signs of abating, Obama said he admired Calderon’s “extraordinary courage and leadership” in cracking down on the cartels. Obama told Calderon that he would ask Napolitano to lead an effort to increase the sharing of information on both sides of the border.
The increase in border security is aimed at stopping the flow of immigrants and drugs to the United States, but also the regular supply of cash and arms that come into Mexico. According to Mexican officials, 90 percent of the guns smuggled into Mexico come from the United States side of the border, purchased by middlemen in gun shops.
Obama indicated that the Merida Initiative – the 1.4 billion dollar package to help the Mexican government pay for aircraft, scanning equipment, materials and training for fighting its drug war – will retain support from the U.S. government. As violence spills across the border into the United States, both Mexican and American officials consider the fight against the narcotraficantes a top priority. There were over 5,700 deaths in Mexico last year that were attributed to drug violence. However, the next installment of cash from the Merida Initiative to the Mexican government may be problematic to pass through Congress, considering the current state of the U.S. economy.
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