US and Mexico begin work on new security framework

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico and the United States have begun work on the new framework that will govern their security relationship going forward and replaces the Merida Initiative, which had focused on building up Mexico’s capabilities to battle the drug cartels. The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities seeks to move beyond the Merida Initiative to include a broader range of issues. Working groups composed of representatives of the armed forces, homeland security and justice agencies of both countries gathered Tuesday in Mexico in what Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard termed the “birth certificate” of the new agreement.