The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute was pleased to host the Ninth Annual US-Mexico Security Forum, on Tuesday, January 26, and Tuesday, February 2, 2021. The conference featured leading policy analysts from Mexico and the United States discussing the most pressing security issues.

In 2020, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico complicated efforts to combat violence, corruption, and organized crime. In Mexico's poorest communities, organized crime groups saw an opportunity, providing aid to those in need to build social capital and expand their influence. 2020 also saw tension mount between the U.S.-Mexico security alliance after the arrest, extradition, and eventual exoneration of former Mexican Defense Minister, General Salvador Cienfuegos. New legislation restricting the ability of Mexicans law enforcement officials to cooperate with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and comments made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about the future of the Mérida Initiative present questions for the future of US-Mexico cooperation. The second day of the conference featured panels with experts evaluating the economic impacts stemming from the security situation in Mexico, as well as the future of US-Mexico security cooperation. 

Simultaneous translation services (English <-> Spanish) was available

10:00am | The importance of rule of law and the economy in the midst of COVID-19

Speakers

• Max Kaiser | Chairman, Anti-Corruption Commission, COPARMEX; Founder,  Center for Integrity and Ethics in Businesses (CIEN)
• Maria Amparo Casar | Board Member, Mexico Institute; President and Founder, Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad
• Javier Mancera | Director and Founding Partner, De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera, S.C. (CMM)
• Moderator: Andrew I. Rudman | Director, Mexico Institute

11:00am | The future of US-Mexico security cooperation under Biden and AMLO Administrations

Speakers

• Eric Olson | Global Fellow, Mexico Institute; Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
• Shannon O'Neil | Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
• Vanda Felbab-Brown | Senior fellow, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Director, Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors, Brookings
• Moderator: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne | Co-Chair, Mexico Institute; Public Policy Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center

Don't forget to join us for Part 1 of our Security Conference, on Tuesday, January 26, 2021