May 17, 2007

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Today, the U.S. Senate, with White House support, reached a tentative agreement on an overhaul of our country’s immigration laws. The Senate will vote on the agreement sometime in the next week. President Bush made clear in a statement today that “this proposal delivers an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair,” and he urged all members of Congress to support it.

Click here to read the President’s statement and more about the agreement
Click here to read the Ambassador's press release on the agreement

Also today, the U.S. Treasury announced the designation of 18 entities as comprising part of the financial network of Mexican narcotics kingpin Ismael Zambada Garcia. This designation of six companies and 12 individuals in Mexico that act as fronts for Zambada Garcia, the leader of a significant Sinaloa-based Mexican drug-trafficking organization, allows for their assets in the U.S. to be frozen and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with them. Zambada Garcia is one of the U.S.’s “most-wanted” drug kingpins, and our government is offering $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

Click here to read more about the Zambada Garcia designation

This designation by the U.S. Treasury today follows on the heels of another recent designation of 45 companies and 64 individuals, including several Mexican entities, as part of the drug-trafficking empire of Fabio Enrique Ochoa Vasco (a.k.a."Carlos Mario"), a major Colombia-based drug trafficker.

Click here to read more about the Carlos Mario designation

The U.S. and Mexico have enjoyed several shared successes in our war against drug-trafficking in the past several months. On March 15th, acting on information supplied by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican law enforcement officers seized US $205 million from the Mexico City home of an individual connected to the UNIMED pharmaceutical corporation of Hong Kong, China. Along with this largest single drug cash seizure in history, seven narco-traffickers were arrested.

Our law enforcement cooperation also led to two important extraditions recently. On March 29, 2007, Mexico extradited Daniel Perez, wanted in California for a brutal murder and kidnapping, to the United States to face justice. And on April 18, 2007, Rodolfo Negrete, wanted in California for a 24-hour killing spree, was extradited by Mexican authorities.

Click here to read more about the extradition of Daniel Perez
Click here to read more about the extradition of Rodolfo Negrete

We have continued to welcome several high-level visitors from the United States to Mexico in the past two months. On April 24, 2007, our U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson visited Mexico City to meet with key Mexican officials. This visit by Secretary Paulson, like those in recent months of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, continue to emphasize just how important the bilateral relationship with Mexico is to the United States. Secretary Paulson met with President Calderon, Foreign Secretary Espinosa, and Finance Secretary Carstens. He also received a briefing from the Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit, which cooperates with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Click here to read more about Secretary Paulson’s visit

On April 10-11, members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, led by Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), traveled to Mexico City to discuss pressing security issues in both our countries with their Mexican counterparts. The U.S. delegation met with Secretary of Interior Francisco Javier Ramirez Acuña, Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna, and Mexican congressional representatives. Mexican law enforcement teams also gave a presentation on the challenge of combating and defeating organized crime. During these meetings, which the delegation members described as ‘productive and informative,’ both officials from Mexico and the United States recognized the urgent need for our countries to continue to cooperate to make our communities safer.

Click here to read more about the delegation’s visit

Also, on April 24, 2007 and May 3-4, 2007, respectively the mayors of America’s two largest cities, Michael Bloomberg of New York and Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, came to Mexico to exchange ideas and visions on improving conditions in our two countries’ major metropolitan areas.

In other Mission news, on April 20th, I joined several colleagues from the governments of both Mexico and the United States in a ceremony to commemorate Earth Day at Chapultepec Zoo. Around the world, the focus of this year’s Earth Day celebration was species conservation. At the Earth Ceremony on the 20th, I announced that, as part of the U.S./Mexico Condor Conservation Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo, will soon be bringing two California condors to Chapultepec Zoo to be used as part of an educational exhibit.

Click here to read more about our Earth Day festivities in Mexico

On April 27th, U.S. Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham and I, along with dignitaries from Mexico and the United States, inaugurated the new Veteran’s Bridge SENTRI Lane, between Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico. The Veteran’s Bridge ‘Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection’ lane, known by the initials SENTRI, will allow trusted travelers who are enrolled in the SENTRI program to cross the border much faster.

Click here to read more about the SENTRI lane opening

Finally, with the troubling narco-violence in Sonora yesterday that left 22 dead including five police officers and the assassination this week of a top official in the intelligence unit of the Mexican attorney general’s office, we are reminded of the great sacrifices of those courageous law enforcement officers in Mexico who have been brutally killed while performing their duty. On behalf of the U.S. Mission, I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the Mexican officials who have lost their lives in just the last week in Mexico, and hope that their murderers will be brought to justice swiftly.

Click here to read our statement of condolence to the family of the Mexican official

An estimated 1000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico during the four and half months of 2007, and over 850 of them have been violent executions. Many of the victims of these executions have been government officials, including law enforcement officers, military officials and government body guards. Over 32 journalists covering narco-violence, as well, have faced kidnappings and murders in Mexico in the past 6 years.

When government officials and journalists are targeted by narco-traffickers, we must all be deeply alarmed because the intent of their murderers is to silence their courageous attempts to make our communities safer and our citizenry more aware.

As Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora said this week, “This war or this battle, as I prefer to characterize it, in reality is a battle that the Mexican state is obliged to wage to recover for our citizens the right to live in peace and tranquility . . . to recover our right to a normal way of life.”

The United States shares the strong commitment of the administration of President Calderon to fight those who are terrorizing and ruining our communities. We also are committed to doing everything in our power to assist the Mexican government in protecting those very brave officials who are trying to take back those communities. Any threat to law enforcement and military officials is a threat to us all.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to share with you information about the important bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States. May God bless both our great nations.

Sincerely,

Antonio O. Garza, Jr.

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