Mexico's Calderon visits Washington for talks with Obama, Boehner

[Judi Lynn]

Mexico's Calderon visits Washington for talks with Obama, Boehner
By Rafael Romo, CNN Senior Latin American Affairs Editor
March 3, 2011 -- Updated 0525 GMT (1325 HKT)

(CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon travels to Washington Thursday to meet with President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and others during a two-day visit likely to include discussions on organized crime, immigration, and commerce.

There has been tension between the United States and Mexico recently and the meeting may serve to smooth things out.

A U.S. diplomatic cable released last fall by WikiLeaks quoted U.S. officials talking about "widespread corruption" in Mexican security agencies and "a dysfunctionally low level of collaboration." The cable, dated January 29, 2010, also described the Mexican army as "slow" and "risk averse" and concluded that only 2% of people arrested in Ciudad Juarez -- the most violent city in Mexico, wracked by drug-cartel-related killings -- were charged with a crime.

In a recent interview with the Mexican newspaper El Universal, Calderon stopped short of saying he was offended by U.S. officials but he complained of what he implicitly interpreted as attempts by his neighbors to the north to meddle in Mexican domestic policy.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/03/03/us.mexico.visit/index.html

[bemildred]

1. Intensive discussions about who gets to hold the bag. nt