Clinton calls for quick resolution of Mexico truck dispute

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The Associated Press

3/26/2009

MONTERREY, Mexico — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Thursday called for a quick end to the dispute that has emerged in the wake of the culmination of the Cross Border Demonstration Project, saying both sides need to ensure that traffic across the border is safe and legal.

Clinton commented on the issue as she wrapped up a two-day visit to Mexico.

"We (in the U.S.) can worry about what's coming north, but Mexican people are worried about what's coming south: assault weapons, bazookas, grenades," she said. "I mean, we've got to get together on this."

A spokesman for the State Department said late Thursday that the reference to assault weapons, bazookas and grenades was a reference to general safety issues and not about what trucks that cross the border might be hauling.

The cross border project ended when Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the omnibus spending bill that contained lauguage ending the program that began in late 2007.

Only days after it ended, the Mexican government placed tariffs on some 90 U.S. exports to Mexico.

Obama has tasked, among others, the Department of Transportation to work with the U.S. Trade Representative and the State Department to work with leaders in Congress and Mexican officials to propose legislation creating a new trucking project that will meet the legitimate concerns of Congress and our NAFTA commitments.

LaHood met with members of Congress Tuesday to discuss the project.

In wrapping up her visit, Clinton said violence is terrorizing Mexicans and threatening U.S. border states. She also repeated a theme on her trip: The demand for illicit narcotics in United States is fueling the drug wars south of the frontier.

"Today, (our) ties are being put to new tests," she told university students in Monterrey, an industrial hub just two hours south of Texas that has been caught up in the wave of drug-related violence that has claimed more than 9,000 lives in a little over two years.

"This situation is intolerable for honest, law-abiding citizens of Mexico, my country or of anywhere people of conscience live," she said.

"The United States recognizes that drug trafficking is not only Mexico's problem," she said. "It is also America's problem."

Mexican officials have long complained that successive U.S. administrations have failed to assume enough or any responsibility for the drug violence.

The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.