A new Black Hawk helicopter is latest Mérida Initiative gift to Mexico

The Mérida Initiative is a 2007 agreement between the United States and Mexico which provides for U.S. training and equipping of Mexican military and police forces, as well as for intelligence gathering and sharing. The name derives from meetings held by former President George Bush and President Calderón in Mérida, the Yucatán's capital, that same year. The package promised to Mexico came with a hefty $1.6 billion price tag.

As part of the initiative the United States has just awarded Mexico another helicopter, this one a Black Hawk UH-60M. The U.S. State Dept. said in a press release today that the $20 million state-of-the-art combat aircraft is equipped with the latest technology to enable night surveillance, among other special operations. The U.S. has already given Mexico's security forces 14 other helicopters, three of them Black Hawks.

With the transfer of this unit, U.S. officials say that Mexico has received about $400 million, or 25% of the total promised under the Mérida Initiative. Administration officials say that president Obama intends to award another $500 million in fiscal year 2011, in equipment, training and technology upgrades, which will raise the aggregate total to $900 million. The State Dept. says that about 52,000 Mexican police officers, most of them drawn from state law enforcement ranks, have received or will receive specialized training in the program.

Congress approved the $1.6 billion plan in 2008 at the urging of then president Bush. Payments and transfers under the program have been slow coming, however, at times leading to frustration on the part of Mexican officials.

Mérida Initiative: http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-us-ambassador-to-mexico-stands.html.
Mexican police officers trained in Maryland: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/merida-initiative-being-implemented-in.html.