The US and Mexico prioritize reaching “safe communities” after bilateral dialogue

One year after holding the first edition of the High-Level Dialogues on Security, the governments of the United States and Mexico presented on Thursday in Washington DC some of their progress and the main challenges for both nations.

“With today’s dialogue a month after our second high-level economic dialogue in Mexico City […] Both are focused on addressing issues that have a tangible impact on the lives of our people, such as strengthening our competitiveness in the 21st century economy, making our communities safe for all of their residents,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the press.

Blinken stressed that part of the bilateral cooperation has focused on joint work with the United Nations Organization “to advance a critical resolution that will sanction those responsible for supporting gang violencecorruption and human rights abuses in Haiti”, which takes the shared interest in security to the regional level.

For his part, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard highlighted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s decision to create the National Commission for Searches, which is considered a mainstay for confronting criminal organizations in its territory.

“I will give you an idea of ​​what we are talking about this morning. I was saying that it is thanks to the work between the United States and Mexico 32 million weapons [confiscadas] that did not end up causing lethal injuries in our countries,” he said.

Ebrard pointed out that in terms of achievements, the homicide rate in Mexico, the most worrying in Mexico, has been reduced by 9.2%, when the country concluded 2021 with 33,000 homicides.

The Secretary of Security of Mexico, Rosa Rodríguez and the Secretary of National Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, also participated.

The Secretary of Justice of the United States, Merrick Garland, intervened to report on the work of the anti-narcotics agency, known as DEA, in confronting drug trafficking and said that a recent operation “resulted in the elimination of 36 million doses lethal fentanyl from communities”, a scourge that kill tens of thousands of people every year in the US.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.