GUADALAJARA, Mexico — President Barack Obama pressed for a new tone in the United States’ relationship with Mexico but found no immediate progress Sunday on the divisions between him and Mexican President Felipe Calderon over the pace of U.S. drug-fighting aid and a ban on Mexican trucks north of the border.
Obama kicked off his second trip to Mexico as president with a friendly 45-minute meeting with Calderon that touched on the vast trade relationship between their two countries, their cooperation on swine flu and the violent Mexican gangs dominating the drug trade on both sides of the border.
Their talks came before the start of a quick three-way summit among the United States, Mexico and Canada. Often called the “Three Amigos” summit, the meeting of Obama, Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper began over dinner at a cultural institution in this town near the mountains.
The summit’s formal talks, the fifth for the three countries, were to take place today, followed by a meeting-capping joint appearance before reporters at midday.
During the sit-down between Obama and Calderon, the Mexican leader raised his concerns about the speed of implementation of the United States’ three-year, $1.4 billion drug-fighting package known as the Merida Initiative. One $100 million installment is being delayed over concerns among some in Congress about the Mexican army’s abuses.
The U.S. law requires Congress to withhold some funding unless the State Department reports Mexico is not violating human rights in the process of its anti-cartel crackdown that started in 2006.
Obama told Calderon the State Department is preparing a report that recognizes all of Mexico’s efforts to prevent abuses, said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity in order to more freely describe private meetings.
Calderon also quizzed Obama on his earlier promise to restore a canceled pilot program that had allowed Mexican truckers to travel into the U.S., the official said.
The North American Free Trade Agreement required the U.S. to grant Mexican trucks full access to its highways by January 2000, but domestic opposition stalled that plan until a 2007 pilot program allowed some trucks. Facing opposition from U.S. labor unions and consumer groups, Obama signed a spending bill that included a ban on spending for the program.
Obama told Calderon that he would work “to try to move forward” but also said Congress has “legitimate safety concerns” about Mexican trucks, the official said.
A major topic of discussion between Obama and Calderon — and for the three leaders today — will be the now-global swine-flu epidemic thought to have started in Mexico in April just before Obama’s last trip, unknown to the White House. An Obama administration aide returned home sick.
Obama was never in danger, the aide and his family recovered, and the two nations cooperated extensively on the flu outbreak through the spring and beyond. The U.S. earned huge points with its southern neighbor for not joining the countries banning flights, halting trade and taking other actions that Mexico considered unfairly punitive.
Obama, Calderon and Harper will look for ways to build on that earlier partnership to handle an expected new wave of cases during North America’s upcoming flu season. John Brennan, Obama’s chief homeland-security aide, said it is as important to further link up health officials and ready vaccine and antiviral supplies as it is for the three leaders to publicly reinforce a determination not to panic when cases arise.
“There are people who are going to be getting sick in the fall and die,” Brennan said. “We want to make sure that we do everything possible to ensure the continuation of commerce, transportation and trade between the three countries.”
The three leaders also are expected to take a joint stand on a recent problem in their hemisphere — the June coup in Honduras that saw President Manuel Zelaya ousted by the military.
Obama has no separate session with Harper alone. The Canadian leader will see the president Sept. 16 in Washington.
