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Attorney General of Mexico, Eduardo Medina Mora, and Ambassador Garza. |
Esteemed colleagues, family and friends from
various states throughout both Mexico and the US, good evening.
I want to thank you for making a special effort to be with
us during this special occasion to celebrate the partnership
to further develop relations between the attorney generals
from our two nations.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to our distinguished
guests, the Honorable José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, Governor-Elect
of Baja California; members of Parliament, and the most impressive
gathering of state attorneys general from the US and Mexico
in my recollection. We welcome you, your staff and also your
family to this gathering.
I'd also like to give a special welcome to Attorney General
Eduardo Medina Mora. It's an honor to have you here. Thank
you for continuing to support the strong cooperation between
the US and Mexico by extending an invitation to US state attorneys
general to attend the National Conference of Western Attorneys
General taking place in Cuernavaca over the next four days.
This conference will allow for open dialogue between the attorneys
general of both of our countries to discuss many serious topics
such as human trafficking and methamphetamine interdiction.
Eduardo, I sincerely appreciate your willingness to work with
the United States in partnership to fight crime across our
borders. Again, we are honored to have you here with us.
Tonight, more than ever, I am proud to be here to highlight
the cooperation and mutual understanding between the US and
Mexico and how we can improve the lives of the citizens in
both of our countries by working together.
I’m sure you remember back to June 2004 when one million
Mexican citizens marched down Reforma Avenue? They were all
dressed in white and marched together to call for changes
to improve the criminal justice system in Mexico.
The Mexican citizens, in democratic fashion, peacefully protested
against the rise of crime in Mexico, and more importantly,
expressed their dissatisfaction with and distrust of the justice
sector.
The Mexican government listened to the peoples’ call for
change and since then, several steps have been taken by both
the federal and state governments to fight crime.
For the past four years, state Mexican governmental officials
have sought to expand their technical cooperation with the
US. Through this cross-border cooperation, they have developed
a working plan that has strengthened the ability of state
prosecutors to pursue and convict criminals, while also ensuring
that human rights and the due process of law are upheld. Impressive
reforms and accomplishments in Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon are
perfect examples of how this cooperation works, and works
well.
Today we are happy to welcome seven attorneys generals from
the states of Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New
Mexico, and North Dakota, and also attorneys general from
the Mexican states of Morelos, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua,
Guanajuato, Durango, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Hidalgo and
Coahuila. This gathering is the perfect occasion to highlight
our state to state teamwork.
I’d also like to express my gratitude to the Attorney General
of the Republic of Mexico, Eduardo Medina Mora, the person
who invited our attorneys general from the US to come to Mexico
and is hosting this important bilateral conference.
Ambassador Garza with the Attorney General of the Republic of Mexico, Eduardo Medina Mora, and the Honorable José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, Governor-Elect of Baja California.
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States on both sides of the border are working hand in hand
to share experiences and best practices so that law enforcement
officials in both of our countries improve their expertise
in fighting crime that all too often operates on both sides
of our border.
The US Embassy recognizes the importance of expanding these
types of relationships, such as the one established between
the states of New Mexico and Chihuahua, so that all states
with shared interests, cooperate, collaborate and unite forces
against the serious criminals—drug traffickers, arms traffickers
and human traffickers that plague both of our countries.
I am sure that the dialogue during this National Conference
of Western Attorneys General will be very productive and will
help to strengthen our bilateral ties.
To this end, I have asked the Agency for International Development
to continue facilitating the exchanges between our sister
states so that the rule of law is upheld and enforced on both
sides of the border. We will continue working with the governors
and attorneys general in advancing this just cause. I want
to congratulate all of you for the work you are doing together.
I understand that you just signed an expanded memorandum of
understanding to lay out a course of action to expand our
cooperation together to increase the security of all of our
citizens.
When we talk about security, there is no doubt that bilateral
cooperation is the key. We intend to continue and expand our
cooperation with Mexico and I encourage you all to keep up
the good work in diligently fighting crime.
Our fight continues, one we must win for our citizens, our
families, our children and a brighter future for both our
great nations.
Thank you and may God bless both the people of Mexico and
the United States and the work that those gathered here are
doing to make our countries safer.
May God bless our two great nations– Mexico and the United
States. |
