WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon are meeting amid heightened tensions over violence at their shared border, though no major breakthroughs are expected on what's quickly becoming a defining issue in the relationship between the North American allies.
Their meeting, scheduled for Thursday morning at the White House, comes three weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata was shot to death in northern Mexico with a gun smuggled in from the U.S. The incident raised questions in the U.S. about Mexico's ability to control violence and has Obama administration officials considering arming U.S. agents working across the border to ensure their safety.
We have to make sure that those kinds of incidents are not repeated and to the extent that that involves the potential arming of them, that's something I think we have to consider, Attorney General Eric Holder told a congressional panel this week.
Administration officials said the White House has been working closely with Calderon's government on how to protect U.S. personnel working in Mexico, but they wouldn't say whether Obama would press the Mexican leader to allow U.S. agents to be armed.
U.S. and Mexican officials have emphasized that Calderon's visit was planned before Zapata's killing. The leaders are expected discuss a wide range of topics, including economic cooperation and immigration, during a private meeting before taking questions from reporters.
