Is Mexico a priority for the US?

Tim Padgett wrote in Time magazine, Nov. 12, 2007, regarding the Merida Initiative (President Bush's two-year, $1.4 billion anti-drug aid proposal for Mexico):

"But the aid's real value is probably political, at least in the eyes of the Bush Administration. The conservative Calderon is a rare U.S. ally in a Latin America that is increasingly steering leftward. Because he won last year's presidential election by a less than 1% margin, the White House sees the aid as a solid means of shoring up his stature at home and abroad. It also allows Bush to look as if he's fulfilling his own 2000 campaign pledge to make Mexico a foreign policy priority - after the country was anything but the past seven years."

What do you think?

Tax reform

A new tax reform is under consideration of Mexico's Congress. The New York Times reported that hoping to raise Mexico’s tax collection rate to offset future declines in oil revenue, President Felipe Calderón presented a tax package to Congress Wednesday that seeks to close many of the loopholes that businesses have used to avoid paying taxes.

Do you think that is the case?

Immigration Reform

According to The New York Times,

WASHINGTON, June 7 —The sweeping immigration overhaul endorsed by President Bush crumbled in the Senate on Thursday night, leaving the future of one of the administration’s chief domestic priorities in serious doubt.

What do you think? Implications for Mexico?

Drug wars

After Operation Michoacan, the Mexican Government deployed soldiers and police to the northwest city of Tijuana to combat drug trafficking. Are these operations cracking down on drug cartels? What's next? Operation Tamaulipas? Operation Monterrey?