MEXICO CITY: President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday accused U.S. presidential candidates of “swaggering, macho and anti-Mexican” posturing and warned the U.S. Congress not to impose conditions on a $1.4 billion anti-drug aid package.
“The only theme in the (U.S.) electoral campaign is to compete to see who can be the most swaggering, macho and anti-Mexican,” Calderon told a local radio station, Enfoque. He did not name any particular candidate or party.
Mexican officials have been sharply disappointed at the failure of years of efforts to reform U.S. immigration policy to legalize the status of millions of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States.
“I find the greatest sensitivity in the U.S. government, some in Congress,” Calderon said, but said there was “a total lack of understanding and aggravation, hostility toward Mexico” among Americans in general.
Calderon also appeared to reject any added conditions on a proposed $1.4 billion U.S. anti-drug aid package that had been negotiated with American officials, saying, “I cannot accept any submission or subordination.”
The proposal by the administration of President George W. Bush, dubbed the Merida Initiative, is meant to give Mexico aid, training and equipment to fight drug trafficking, which U.S. officials see as an American national security problem.
It still awaits approval in Congress, and some U.S. legislators have suggested the program may need safeguards to prevent corruption or human rights abuses by Mexican military and law enforcement personnel.
“I need that technology,” Calderon said. “Give it to me. And give it to me without conditions.”
Calderon also criticized U.S. involvement in Iraq, saying U.S. leaders were “spending Americans’ money and putting the government into debt to finance their military adventure, and that is squeezing out private investment.”
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