Mexico City, Mexico — The United States and Mexico on Friday vowed to overhaul their joint fight against drug cartels, during a visit by a high-level delegation including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Lopez Obrador hailed a “new phase” in relations, reiterating an invitation to US President Joe Biden to visit Mexico. Washington has indicated that it is ready to revamp a 13-year-old program called the Merida Initiative that provided US military firepower, technical support, and security training. The United States has given Mexico about $3 billion since 2008 for law enforcement training and equipment such as Black Hawk helicopters. But the new strategy would put more emphasis on stopping flows of firearms and drug money from the United States to Mexico, in order to “deny revenue to these cartels,” he added.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 08, 2021 18:00 UTC