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Summary

Increasing violence perpetrated by drug trafficking organizations, gangs, and other criminal groups is threatening citizen security in Mexico and Central America. Drug-related violence claimed more than 5,600 lives in Mexico in 2008, and several Central American countries have some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Mexican-based drug cartels dominate the illicit drug market in most regions of the United States and are expanding their operations by forming partnerships with U.S. gangs. As a result, some of the drug-related violence in Mexico has begun to spillover into the United States. On October 22, 2007, the United States and Mexico announced the Mérida Initiative, a multi-year proposal for $1.4 billion in U.S. assistance to Mexico and Central America aimed at combating drug trafficking and organized crime. The Bush Administration first requested funding for Mérida in the FY2008 supplemental appropriation. The request did not include domestic programs to complement the Initiative, but U.S. officials pledged to step up efforts to prevent arms, precursor chemicals, and bulk cash from flowing from the United States to Mexico, and to reduce U.S. drug demand. In June 2008, the 110th Congress appropriated $465 million for FY2008 and FY2009 for Mexico and Central America in the FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, (P.L. 110-252). Mexico received $352 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance and $48 million in FY2009 bridge fund supplemental assistance. Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic received $65 million in FY2008 supplemental assistance. In March 2009, the 111th Congress appropriated another $300 million for Mexico and $110 million for Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, (P.L. 111-8). On April 9, 2009, the Obama Administration requested $66 million for Mérida funding for Mexico in a FY2009 supplemental request. The Congress passed a supplemental appropriation in June 2009 (P.L. 111-32) greater than the Administration’s request totaling $420 million in Mérida assistance for Mexico. With the 2009 supplemental, total funding for the Mérida program to date is approximately $1.3 billion. For FY2010, the Obama Administration requested $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America for a total of $550 million. On June 26, 2009, the House Appropriations Committee reported H.R. 3081 which includes security-related assistance of $235.8 million for Mexico, $83 million for Central America under the new Central America Regional Security Initiative and $37 million in the new Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. The 111th Congress has demonstrated a strong interest in addressing the spiraling drug trafficking violence in Mexico, and held more than a dozen hearings relating to the border violence in the spring of 2009. Congress will continue to examine the Mérida Initiative and related funding as it considers the FY2010 budget. Policy issues that have emerged in consideration of Mérida include what levels and types of funding should be provided to Mexico and Central America; how well U.S. agencies are coordinating with their foreign counterparts in implementing the Initiative; and the degree to which the nations involved, including the United States, are fulfilling their domestic obligations under Mérida. Congress has expressed a keen interest in enforcement of Mérida’s human rights conditions. This report provides an overview of the funding provided for the Mérida Initiative and a discussion of some policy issues that Congress may consider as it oversees implementation of the Initiative. For related information, see CRS Report RL32724, Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress, and CRS Report R40582, Mexico’s Drug-Related Violence.

Related Legislation:
• H.R.3081

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