U.S. President George W. Bush will meet with his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon on Jan. 13,the White House said on Saturday.
The two leaders will discuss the U.S.-Mexico cooperation to confront "criminal organizations and related violence that plague the region, including implementation of the Merida Initiative," the White House said in a statement.
"The President will also use the meeting to again acknowledge President Calderon's courage and the people of Mexico's sacrifice in confronting the drug traffickers," according to the statement. During his visit to the United States, Calderon will also meet President-elect Barack Obama, who will take office on Jan. 20.
Earlier last month, the Bush administration released a 197-million-dollar aid package to support Mexico's struggle against drug cartels. Drug-related violence claimed some 5,000 lives in Mexico in 2008, and drug-related crimes have been spreading across the border into the United States.
The aid is part of the so-called Merida Initiative, which was a security cooperation among the two neighboring countries and the countries of Central America in order to combat the threats of drug trafficking, transnational crime, and terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.
Also on Jan. 13, Bush will offer the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former prime ministers Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and John Howard of Australia, for their steady support to the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
Blair and Howard, both of whom supported the Iraqi War launched in 2003 by the Bush administration, were seen as the most loyal partners of the U.S. president on the international political stage. Uribe is among few pro-Washington leaders in the Latin America.
Bush will bid farewell to the White House on Jan. 20.
Source: Xinhua
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