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Summary

Increasing violence perpetrated by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) 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 among the highest homicide rates in the world. Mexican DTOs dominate the illicit drug market in 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 spilled over 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. counterdrug and anticrime assistance to Mexico and Central America. In June 2008, the 110th Congress appropriated $400 million for Mexico and $65 million for Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic in the FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, (P.L. 110-252). The human rights conditions in P.L. 110-252 are less demanding than earlier versions of the bill, largely because of Mexico's objections that some of the original conditions would have violated its national sovereignty. Congress has released almost all of the FY2008 funds for Central America, and has just released $60 million in FY2008 funds for Mexico that were being withheld pending the submission of a human rights progress report by the State Department. The 111th Congress has demonstrated a strong interest in addressing the spiraling drug trafficking violence in Mexico through Mérida and related domestic programs. In March 2009, the 111th Congress appropriated $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). In June 2009, Congress passed a supplemental appropriation (P.L. 111-32) that included $420 million in Mérida assistance for Mexico, substantially higher than the Administration's $66 million request. With the 2009 supplemental, total funding appropriated for Mérida to date is roughly $1.3 billion. The FY2009 regular and supplemental appropriations bills also contain human rights conditions. For FY2010, the Obama Administration requested $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America. On July 9, 2009, the House passed H.R. 3081, the FY2010 State Department/Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, which includes security-related assistance of $235.8 million for Mexico, $83 million for Central America under a new Central America Regional Security Initiative, and $37 million under a new Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. The Senate Appropriation's Committees version of the FY2010 State Department/Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, S. 1434, would provide $115 million for Mexico and $90 million for Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic under the Mérida Initiative. While both the House and the Senate would provide less than the Administration's FY2010 request, Congress had appropriated significantly more for Mexico in the FY2009 supplemental spending measure. Policy issues that have emerged in consideration of Mérida include what levels and types of funding should be provided; how well U.S. agencies and their foreign counterparts are implementing the Initiative; and the degree to which the nations involved are fulfilling their domestic obligations under Mérida. Congress has expressed a keen interest in enforcement of Mérida's human rights conditions, particularly with respect to Mexico. This report provides an overview of the funding provided for the Mérida Initiative, the status of Mérida implementation, and a discussion of some policy issues that Congress may consider as it oversees 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
• S.1434

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