Jorge Fenández M. entrevista a Negroponte

Interview by Jorge Fernandez Menendez of Cadena Tres
John D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State
Mexico City, MexicoOctober 30, 2007
Jorge Fernández Menéndez: Here with us is the Deputy Secretary of State John Dimitri Negroponte. Mr. Negroponte, thank you very much for being with us. With the Merida Initiative something peculiar has happened. A poll published in the newspaper Excelsior showed that 68% of Mexicans willingly accept in the Merida Initiative, an initiative that at the same time is being discussed in political circles. How much support does the Merida Initiative have with the United States public?
Deputy Secretary Negroponte: We have discussed this initiative with various members of Congress and senators. And so far, I believe that the reception has been good. Since this deals with funding from our side of the initiative, it will require congressional approval. And our president is committed to obtaining these funds in the shortest possible time.
QUESTION: There has been a lot of talk about another free trade agreement, plus. You are very familiar with the Free Trade Agreement. You were ambassador in Mexico during the whole process. And when one speaks of progress in integration, in the cooperation here in Mexico, security is a recurrent theme. Could the Merida Initiative be a chapter, so to speak, of a new security collaboration that would complement all that surrounds the Free Trade Agreement?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Well, I will not make a direct connection between the Free Trade Agreement on one side and this initiative on the other, because they are not exactly similar. [The initiative] is not a legal instrument like a treaty, for example. It is more of, if you would permit me to explain, an initiative that deals with a problem that both countries must confront. And that is the violence caused by international, transnational crime and narco-trafficking. When the two presidents met in Merida in March, the idea was raised to strengthen, to intensify the strategic collaboration against this threat. And that is what I want to raise, the initiative.
QUESTION: The documents on the initiative that have been released, including those distributed by the Department of State, mention collaboration in global security, they mention international organized crime, narco-trafficking, as well as terrorism. Is the idea that this is a treaty to advance an outline for global security for North America? Is that right?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: The main idea is to try to respond to the needs of the Mexican security forces, and in law enforcement, to better confront this challenge in terms of equipment, databases, technology, assistance in the professionalization of the security forces, but always in a spirit of responding to the needs, ideas, defined by the Mexican side. We had various working groups. Many people have asked me if we are trying to impose our ideas on Mexico, but that is not the way to think about this issue, because bilateral working groups were formed to discuss each area of collaboration.
QUESTION: And the areas of collaboration are too many—
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGRONPONTE: …To respond to the needs, to what the government of Mexico thinks it needs to better combat this scourge. That is the idea.
QUESTION: These are transnational phenomena.
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Yes
QUESTION: You are very familiar with all of these phenomena: in Colombia, in Central America, in Mexico, including the phenomenon of terrorism, which is included in this theme, is a transnational phenomenon. In addition to the Merida Initiative there is a proposal to provide $50 million USD of assistance as well, equipment, to Central American nations. This, on the other hand, has very different characteristics from Plan Colombia. Can we think of a security strategy that is much more homogenous for the whole region on themes like narco-trafficking, organized crime, and the fight against terrorism?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: I believe that this is an issue that we are going to confront, that we are confronting in a pragmatic manner. That is to say, at this time, in recent years, there has been an intensification in violence provoked by this inter – transnational – crime, narco-trafficking. I understand that 250 security officials have been killed in this year alone. So the idea is actually – it’s not dealing in the abstract. It is really how to confront these problems, this direct threat in a way that can bring violence under control, to allow our citizens to develop in peace and tranquility, and make the most of the opportunities that they deserve.
QUESTION: How do you see—Before you were Deputy Secretary of State, you were in charge of U.S. government intelligence, you were in Iraq, you were Ambassador in Mexico, in other countries. How does the United States see Mexico in the global context on security and the fight against organized crime? From the U.S. point of view, how does Mexico look in this arena?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Well, in the first place, I think you always have to talk about this in the context of the importance of the bilateral relationship because we are neighbors, we have a long border, and you are our second largest commercial and trade partner, and there has been a phenomenal growth in the last few years in economic activity between the two countries. This is the context, right?
QUESTION: From there we start to analyze, right?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: But it’s the context of our actions. Now, with regard to crime and narco-trafficking, we have to recognize that a great part of the illegal drugs that enter our country come through your country, and for this reason we want to collaborate with you to combat this common problem. The Merida Initiative is the embodiment of this desire.
QUESTION: The theme of terrorism is also troublesome. There have been some reports, you will remember at the beginning of the year, that there was some type of attack on oil platforms or something…
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Well, fortunately, there haven’t been any more major incidents, but because it’s a long border there is always the possibility that terrorist elements will try to cross into our country. That’s why we’ve established good collaboration in order to monitor people who try to cross your country coming from other countries, from other parts of the world.
QUESTION: Has this collaboration been successful?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: I would say that we have an excellent – since September 11, 2001 we’ve had excellent collaboration.
QUESTION: On another topic, after these attacks in Mexico on oil pipelines by armed groups, does the U.S. perceive these as possible terrorist actions that could have some terrorist connection?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: I couldn’t say. I’m not very sure about this, but I hope that…they’re activities that can be controlled and that won’t be repeated, right? Or that they don’t extend to other areas – this would be a problem.
QUESTION: Meaning that---
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: …for production, the exportation of oil from your country.
QUESTION: And furthermore, oil is a national security concern for the United States.
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: You are one of the most important oil suppliers to our country.
QUESTION: Lastly, Deputy Secretary Negroponte, information is key in all of this. The exchange of information and intelligence, and the Merida Initiative looking at the different chapters, there is a lot of exchange of equipment of all kinds, there’s training, but how does it work, or how is the exchange of information and intelligence between Mexico and the United States working?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Exactly. One of the principal ideas of this initiative is to train, give more training in order to establish databases, and also -
QUESTION: Shared databases....
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Shared. And for rapid communication of information. The compatibility of equipment in order to be able to integrate and act upon information rapidly. This was a very important theme during the reform of our intelligence services, because before each agency used to keep information in its channels without a horizontal integration and that is very important. And this is also the idea when we refer to the fight against crime. Transfers of information require the same agility.
QUESTION: Within Mexico but also between Mexico and the United States.....
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Both, both.
QUESTION: Lastly, and putting aside the Merida Initiative, how is the fight against terrorism going? How can we evaluate whether the global fight against terrorism is successful or not?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: It’s difficult.
QUESTION: Yes
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: It’s difficult to judge, but I’ll say one thing: since September 11, 2001, there hasn’t been another major incident in our country. I believe we have taken security measures that have made our country more secure than it was before. However, there are never guarantees. There are still people who are trying…organizing plots to attack Western Europe and also the United States. And I think that we must be very vigilant.
QUESTION: And that war continues.
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: I would say that, yes, it continues. It is something that we are going to have to remain vigilant about for many years in the future.
QUESTION: Mr. Negroponte, thank you very much for this interview. Thank you.
QUESTION: Thank you very much.
Released on November 6, 2007