Latin America: US Plans to Supersize Mexico Drug War Aid -- $1.4 Billion Package in Works

Move over, Plan Colombia -- here comes Plan Mexico. Tucked into the Pentagon's massive budget request is at least $1.4 billion in anti-drug aid for Mexico, the Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday. The aid package, which would be spread over two-years according to the report, represents a nearly twenty-fold increase over current anti-drug aid levels, which are estimated at about $40 million this year.

US and Mexican officials speaking off the record told the Morning News the two countries have agreed on the aid package, which will reportedly include better training and high-tech tools to combat the drug trafficking organizations that are engaged in bloody wars among themselves and with the Mexican government, but will not involve US troops.

According to the latest reports, some 2,000 people have been killed in drug prohibition-related violence in Mexico this year, eclipsing last year's toll of 1,900. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has responded vigorously, deploying more than 20,000 Mexican army troops in drug producing states and cities plagued by cartel violence. That move has been harshly criticized by the government's own human rights office, but welcomed in Washington as a sign of strength and commitment.

Officials from both sides of the Rio Grande told the Morning News the power of the drug traffickers posed a threat to both countries. "We either win together or we lose together," said Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora in interviews last month.

The legislative process is weeks from completion, and officials said there will be hearings on the proposed massive aid increase in coming days or weeks. It will undoubtedly be challenged on the Hill, both by those skeptical of investing money in "corrupt" Mexico and by those skeptical of massive foreign anti-drugs programs. Still, it could well pass, given broader congressional concern about the border.

Some skepticism is coming from unexpected quarters. Phil Jordan, former head of the DEA's Dallas office, told the newspaper the aid could end up as money being poured down a rat hole. "Until you reduce US demand for drugs and weed out the immense corruption among Mexico's law enforcement, pouring more US money into Mexico won't necessarily solve the problem," he said.

Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora agreed in part with Jordan, but also raised another issue. "The US government needs to do more in reducing the drug consumption, and it needs to do its part in the equation of stopping the flow of cash and weapons," he said. "The US law is too flexible, too permissive when it comes to gun possession, and unfortunately many of those guns, particularly high-power assault weapons, too often end up in the hands of ruthless drug cartels."

Look for a coming battle in Congress as the defense appropriation bill moves forward.