The Mexican Foreign Ministry informed in a statement that both meetings give continuity to the ongoing talks between the administrations of Presidents Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Joe Biden to address the shared objectives between both nations on security matters.

The meeting with the FBI on Wednesday was chaired by the head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American unit for Mexico, Roberto Velasco, and the undersecretary of the Secretariat of Security and City Protection, Ricardo Mejia, while the United States was represented by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amanda Liskamm and FBI Deputy Director Calvin A. Shivers.

The delegations, each made up of about twenty people from different ministries, including the military, discussed the violence reduction strategies and the fight against arms trafficking, promoted by the Mexican government as a priority.

They agreed to move forward with a strategy on public health issues and another that prioritizes and strengthens the expansion of intelligence mechanisms, especially financial intelligence, and leaves behind the punitive policies that are characteristic of the Merida Initiative.

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