Steve Scalise on Fox News Sunday repeatedly refuses to acknowledge that the 2020 election was not stolen from Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/EME1lBK1vA— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2021
Scalise stood his ground.
Mexico, US agree to launch joint initiatives on health, crime and security
Mexico and the United States have proposed “a new vision of regional security and collaboration” after top officials held bilateral talks in Mexico City on Friday.
“This new framework establishes a comprehensive and long-term approach to guide bilateral actions going forward. Together, we can build a system of peace, justice, and respect for the rule of law,” the statement said.
Mexico and the United States pledged to take concrete actions to “protect our people,” prevent transborder crime, and pursue criminal networks.
“To protect our people, we intend to pursue a memorandum of understanding to reduce substance abuse disorder and associated harms, with the intent to develop plans to prevent drug consumption, provide evidence-based treatment, and strengthen early warning systems and ability to track demand,” the statement said.
In pursuit of the “protect our people” objective, the two countries also pledged to create a network for homicide prevention.
The network will “provide a platform for the exchange of best practices in crime and violence prevention, homicide reduction, work with at-risk youth, and work toward safe and peaceful communities,” the statement said.
It also said the network would consider creating multidisciplinary homicide task forces focused on high-impact crimes linked to transnational criminal organizations, with a focus on forensic laboratories and support for investigation and prosecution.
To prevent transborder crime, Mexico intends to work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to strengthen control and management of incoming shipments for precursor chemicals, the statement said. Such chemicals commonly arrive at Pacific coast ports on ships from Asia.
Mexico and the United States also affirmed their commitment to work together to combat arms trafficking. The joint statement said the two countries will work together on the detection and interdiction of firearms and consider new strategies to combat the flow of weapons across their shared border.
The Mexican government is currently pursuing legal action against U.S.-based gun manufacturers, accusing them of negligent business practices that have led to illegal arms trafficking and deaths in Mexico, where U.S.-sourced firearms are used in a majority of high-impact crimes. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said last month that reducing violence in Mexico will be very difficult if the United States doesn’t do more to stop the illegal flow of weapons into the country.
Mexico and the United States also committed to expanding bilateral cooperation to counter human smuggling and human trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.
“… To pursue criminal networks, the United States and Mexico commit to increasing bilateral and parallel actions to disrupt illicit actors and their financial networks,” the statement said.
It also said that both countries were committed to human rights and to advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity. In addition, the two countries pledged to “work with our youth to provide them with options other than joining organized crime” and share information to detect money laundering, among other initiatives.