THE FOREIGN MINISTRY PARTICIPATED IN THE FIRST NORTH AMERICA – CENTRAL AMERICAN INTEGRATION SYSTEM (SICA) SECURITY DIALOGUE

• The Mexican delegation was headed by the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vanessa Rubio Marquez.

• This was a first meeting between Mexico, the United States and Canada with the Central American countries to define an agenda for security cooperation.

Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean Vanessa Rubio Marquez was in Washington, DC today to participate in the first meeting of the North America – Central American Integration System (SICA) Dialogue on Democratic Security. It was agreed to institutionalize the bi-regional dialogue that includes the SICA member countries (Belize, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The new vice-ministerial-level group merges the separate dialogues that both Mexico and the United States maintain with SICA, and adds Canada in order to enhance the scope of cooperation on security in North and Central America.

Undersecretary Rubio, who led a delegation including officials from the Ministries of Interior, Defense and Navy and the Attorney General's Office, said that one of the priorities of President Pena Nieto’s administration is to ensure "a Mexico at peace" within secure borders.

She also said that Mexico’s reason for participating in the dialogue is to set a common agenda of cooperation between the Central and North American countries for institutional strengthening; the exchange of experiences and information; and training, among other goals, in order to prevent crime and to make our regions peaceful and prosperous.