US pledges $465m to Mexico to fight cartels

THE US House of Representatives has approved a $465 million (€297.7m) fund, an anti-narcotics package to help battle drug cartels in Mexico and Central America.

By a vote of 416-12, the House approved the funding for the first year of the so-called Merida Initiative, proposed in October by President George W Bush, as a three-year plan to provide Mexico with aircraft and training to fight drug traffickers.

The plan, which offers $85m (€54.4m) less than Bush requested for fiscal 2008, is expected to be approved in the Senate next week, sources said.