Major Merida Initiative Delays. Or, $24 Million and All We Got Were These "X-Ray Vans"!

A new study released Thursday by the GAO indicates that the United States has spent just 2% of the over $1 billion pledged to the Mexican government as part of the Merida Initiative. In dollar amounts, the New York Times reports that that’s just $24 million over the last three years, adding that “burdensome contracting rules and other delays” are the primary factors in the delay. That money has gotten the Mexican government 26 armored vehicles, 30 machines to detect drugs and explosive materials and five x-ray vans, as well as software and several training programs, writes the AP. And, moreover, the GAO report adds that State Department officials still ‘could not tell us [the GAO] when they planned to deliver the majority of Merida goods and services. [Full GAO Merida Report available here.]

“It sounds like a horror story,” the Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter Hakim tells the AP. “This was supposed to be emergency aid.” Hakim added that he believes it is counterproductive to attach conditions to Merida money after the agreement has been signed. Congress has said a portion of the Mexico money could not be spent until the State Department reported issued a report saying the Mexican government had investigated and prosecuted members of its federal police and military who may have committed human rights abuses, the AP says. Back in July, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton promised to speed up the delivery of anti-drug equipment, and the GAO notes this push succeeded in trimming the time required to obtain the aircraft. Five Bell BH-412 helicopters are scheduled to arrive later this month, the LA Times reports.

DOS in the past has also attributed some of the problems of disbursement to the “challenge of tracking all the money and programs spread across numerous government agencies.” Earlier in the year officials did say that dozens of new staff members had to be hired at the American Embassy in Mexico to handle administrative matters.

• On Honduras this morning, Ass’t. Sec. of State Arturo Valenzuela said Thursday that he was “disappointed” by Wednesday’s congressional vote, rejecting the restoration of Manuel Zelaya. Chilean ex-President Ricardo Lagos who served on the short-lived “Verification Commission” used much stronger language, saying Wednesday’s congressional vote actually “broke” the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord.” But in his statement, Mr. Valenzuela added, “Important work remains to be conducted to promote national reconciliations, as the status quo remains unacceptable.” Valenzuela specifically noted once again that “the next steps in this process should be the expeditious formation of a national unity government and the establishment of a truth commission.” A teleconference with three senior administration officials was also held yesterday on developments in Honduras. DOS repeated its “necessary but not sufficient” line on the Sunday elections:

“The elections were just simply a step in this process. That process is not over. That’s why we were disappointed. And the fact that the Congress, in fact, did not vote President Zelaya back into office and, as we were saying in this statement that Arturo Valenzuela just read, that we really do believe that additional steps are essential to move forward in order for Honduras to be able to return to the inter-American system."

Elaborating further on the U.S. position going forward, hints at a “watch and wait” approach and no big, new policy changes until Jan. 27:

“But then again, to stress the key point here, is that that does not mean, of course, that simply by holding an election, Honduras can come – can return to the inter-American system, can have the OAS lift its suspension of Honduras. For that to happen, of course, they have to take additional steps to fully show that they are restoring the democratic and constitutional order, and that means these other instruments that we talked about earlier, and particularly the truth commission, which is a very important part of the original concept of the accord.”

The administration officials also rejected the notion that US officials had been calling Honduran congressional members to get them to vote “yes” on reinstatement, and responding to a question about why the U.S. may have believed the Honduran Congress might reinstate Zelaya one month ago, USG turned the table and seemed to blame Zelaya himself.

“But in terms of what occurred in the last couple of weeks, as my colleague noted a moment ago, President Zelaya took a tack a couple of weeks ago that was very negative with respect to the elections in his own country, and as well as this Article 5 process in the Congress. So I think it’s possible that that may have shaped the outcome. We don’t know if that outcome would have been different if he had taken a more positive approach to that process, but he certainly took a negative one.”

And as FP’s The Cable points out, for Mel Zelaya, the U.S. seems to now be saying “You’re on your own.” More detailed analysis by RAJ at Honduras Coup 2009.

• The New York Times reports on new Guatemalan court documents entered as evidence against Gen. Efrain Rios Montt in his genocide trial, filed in Spain almost one decade ago. The Times writes: “In clipped, military language, the records document Operation Sofía, one element of the counterinsurgency campaign waged against leftist guerrilla forces. The offensive sent hundreds of soldiers from different bases against the guerrillas, whose numbers the military estimated at fewer than 100 in the Ixil area, where Operation Sofía was centered.About 200,000 people died during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, which formally ended with a 1996 peace agreement.” According to National Security Archive analyst, Kate Doyle, the records demonstrate “a deliberate policy of murder and mayhem,” and she adds this is one of the first moments the voice of the military has been heard.
• Also in the Times this morning, a piece examining the political comeback of former Argentine president, and first gentleman, Nestor Kirchner. After losing a bid for congress six months ago, Kirchner resigned as the chief of the Peronist party (a decision the party itself still has not accepted, leaving everyone in limbo). But, says the paper, “rather than retreat to his Patagonian home of Santa Cruz, Mr. Kirchner, the politician known as the Penguin, has been clawing his way back.” On Thursday he was sworn into a new seat in Congress granted to him under Argentina’s proportional representation system. With disorganized opposition, “this has given an opening for the government,” political Graciela Romer tells the Times. The Argentine Senate also approved a political reform law Wednesday (opposed by the opposition) which enacts simultaneous, open, and obligatory primary elections, as well as new regulation of campaign finance. Critics say the new law could reconsolidate the power of Argentina’s two traditional parties, the Peronists and the Radical Party.
• CIP is rolling out its new, comprehensive study of “Integrated Action” programs in Colombia. “After Plan Colombia,” says CIP’s Adam Isacson, is “the product of months of research, including visits to two areas where these programs are underway” and "examines the next phase of U.S. assistance.”
• In Nicaragua, the AP says President Daniel Ortega’s attempt at re-election is running into trouble as the Congress refuses to recognize the recent Supreme Court decision overturning re-election bans.
• There are delays (until February) of previously scheduled migration talks between the U.S. and Cuba, supposed to begin this month.
• More on a potential financial collapse in Venezuela this morning in the Wall Street Journal which writes: “Worries grew Thursday that Venezuela is on the verge of a banking crisis, causing a run on smaller lenders, sinking the country's currency and bond prices, and stoking fears that president Hugo Chávez could nationalize the banking system.”
• And one opinion. Andres Oppenheimer writes on the Honduran crisis in the Miami Herald and argues that the U.S., Brazil, and the OAS have all failed. Who’s left?