MEXICO CITY — The U.S. released the first part of a $400-million aid package Wednesday to help Mexico's police and soldiers fight drug cartels.
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza formally released $197 million at a signing ceremony in Mexico City. The rest will be disbursed throughout the year.
The aid plan includes no cash but provides helicopters, surveillance aircraft, airport inspection gear and case-tracking software. It also supports efforts to weed out corrupt police and protect witnesses.
However, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says, most will go to notoriously corrupt police forces and the same military whose soldiers have tortured, raped and killed innocent civilians while battling the cartels.
