BROWNSVILLE — Following a weekend of shootings, sheltering in place and cartel blockades in Matamoros, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar visited the Tamaulipas border city before making his way here Tuesday.
“Security is one of the key challenges that we face in both countries, the United States and Mexico,” Salazar acknowledged during a conversation with journalists Tuesday morning at a Brownsville hotel conference room.
On Monday, Salazar met with government and non-governmental organization leaders in Tamaulipas, including Gov. Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Executive Director Norma Pimentel, Dulce Refugio in Matamoros Director Pastor Abraham Barberi, and Senda de Vida in Reynosa Director Pastor Hector Silva.
The ambassador spent Tuesday morning in Brownsville where he met border community leaders including Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, and Mexican Consul General Yolanda Parra.
Tuesday marked the first month since the former Colorado attorney general and U.S. senator was sworn into his new role. Salazar also served as interior secretary in 2009 under President Barack Obama.
Salazar’s tenure starts at a time when a binational relationship with Mexico has become pivotal in facing migration, safety and supply chain challenges.
“It’s important for us in the United States to have our eyes on everything that is Mexico, and that means the south,” Salazar said Tuesday.
Reports of Mexican violence have recently made headlines on the U.S. side.
On Thursday, two foreigners died after getting caught in crossfire of rival drug gangs in a town considered a safe Mexican tourist town, as reported by the Associated Press. Closer to home, shootouts between the Gulf Cartel Escorpiones faction and Mexican law enforcement Friday ended in the death of an innocent civilian and a cartel boss.
Salazar said security challenges posed by cartel violence was discussed at a meeting held Oct. 9 between three cabinet members, the deputy secretary of the treasury for the U.S., and their counterparts in Mexico.
“We care a lot about their security,” Salazar said of Mexican and American tourists, “and when we are successful with the implementation of the Bicentennial Security Framework that will mean that people will be more secure. And that will mean that communities will be more secure.”
The Bicentennial Security Framework was a binational agreement announced earlier in October that, among other things, seeks to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, their illicit supply chains and financial networks.
“That framework at its foundation has to do with the fact that we have to confront violence in all its forms in a shared responsibility between the governments of the United States and Mexico,” Salazar said. “That means having a robust and results program that does show results in stemming the growing tide of violence.”
Before leaving the Valley, Salazar said he’d be visiting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna. The ambassador’s schedule included a helicopter ride to Del Rio, where he would be visiting with the Coahuila governor before ending the day in Laredo with dinner between leaders from the U.S. and Mexican side of the border.
Salazar said he will be wrapping up his week in San Antonio on Thursday through Friday.
