Obama wants drug war aid released to Mexico

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will press Congress to release more than US$100 million ($148 million) of aid to help Mexico in its war against the drug cartels.

The funds have been held up by complaints on Capitol Hill that the Mexican Army has committed human rights abuses in its struggle to destroy the drug barons and end the violence that has killed an estimated 11,000 people.

The issue was one of several bones of contention at yesterday's summit between the leaders of the US, Canada and Mexico in Guadalajara, now an annual fixture aimed at building on the ties established through Nafta, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that came into effect in 1994.

Mexican officials have repeatedly pushed for the money to be released, insisting that reports of abuses by the Army have been exaggerated, and at a private meeting here with his opposite number Felipe Calderon, Obama reiterated his support for the Mexican Government's offensive.

But the money has not been forthcoming, despite the administration's best efforts, including Obama's acknowledgement that the US shared responsibility for the crisis, given its demand for drugs and its role as a de facto supplier of the guns that arm the militias operated by the cartels.

General James Jones, Obama's national security adviser, pledged Washington's backing for the crackdown in a TV interview. The Calderon Government had been "courageous" in taking the fight to the cartels, and "we have to do everything we can to be a helpful neighbour and partner".

The drugs issue is one of several that was unlikely to be resolved by the talks between Obama, Calderon and Canadian PM Stephen Harper.

Their personal relations may be excellent, to the point they have been dubbed the "Three Amigos", but the problems confronting the leaders are sensitive and, if anything, have been intensified by the economic crisis.

- INDEPENDENT