Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
All the entries posted on October 23, 2007.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
This is the name of your plan … This is the name of your plan on drugs … Any questions?
The p.r. mavens for the Mexican and U.S. governments are working overtime to take control over the name of the multi-million dollar aid package to fight Mexico’s drug cartels.
For months, the aid package had been dubbed “Plan Mexico” in both the U.S. and Mexican press, a nod to “Plan Colombia,” the massive aid package to help that South American country fight narco-traffickers.
The problem, as policymakers apparently saw it, was that Plan Colombia carried some negative connotations. Human rights activists have assailed the Colombian aid package for hurting Colombian farmers, Mexico was particularly apprehensive about the American troop presence in Colombia and experts complain it hasn’t significantly reduced cocaine production. In short, the terms Plan Colombia and Plan Mexico have serious baggage.
Enter the “Merida Initiative.” That’s how the aid package was christened yesterday by Mexican and U.S. officials when the plan/initiative was officially unveiled. The Merida Initiative refers to the spring summit presidents Bush and Felipe Calderon held in the lovely Yucatecan city of Merida and where the aid package was first discussed. Officials argue that the Mexico aid package differs from the Colombian version chiefly in that no U.S. troops will step foot on Mexican soil. Still, the aid package has sparked alarm among Mexicans worried the U.S. will now take control of its anti-drug strategy.
We’ll see if the new, government approved name sticks. So far, the Mexican media appears to be running with Plan Mexico in its headlines and putting a reference to the Merida Initiative deeper in stories. This morning’s El Universal editorial called the dueling names a “semantic game” and argued that comparisons to the Colombian situation are valid.