President Barack Obama will visit Mexico next month amid growing U.S. concerns about Mexican drug-cartel violence, U.S. and Mexican officials said Wednesday. Obama told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that the trip would include meetings with President Felipe Calderon “to discuss the deep and comprehensive U.S.-Mexico relationship, including how the United States and Mexico can work together to support Mexico's fight against drug-related violence and work toward effective, comprehensive immigration reform.” The U.S. president already met Calderon, eight days before taking office in January. The second meeting will take place on April 16-17 before both leaders attend a Summit of the Americas in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The meeting between Calderon and Obama “will give continuity to dialogue established during a meeting last January 12 in Washington when they agreed to promote a strategic association between both countries,” Mexican presidential spokesman Maximiliano Cortazar told reporters in Mexico City. Obama said last week the U.S. government was considering deploying the National Guard to the border to prevent spillover from drug-related violence that killed more than 5,300 people in 2008 and more than 1,000 so far this year. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Mexico City and Monterrey next week, with the drug violence high on the agenda in her talks with Mexican leaders.
