Vice President Biden to meet with Calderon, candidates

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will meet with Mexico’s leading politicians in the capital next week as part of a brief tour of Mexico and Honduras.

Arriving in Mexico City on the evening of Sunday, March 4, Biden will meet with President Felipe Calderon and will “underscore the United States’ commitment to deepening our close dialogue and cooperation with Mexico on a broad range of issues,” said a statement from the White House.

The following day Biden will convene with the three candidates vying to succeed Calderon as president: Enrique Peña Nieto, Josefina Vazquez Mota and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He will discuss with them their respective visions of bilateral relations between the neighboring countries.

Of great interest in Washington will be how each candidate intends to tackle drug-trafficking and organized crime should they win the July 1 election.

Biden will end his trip in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, in a meeting with President Porfirio Lobo.

“In both countries, the Vice President will also consult with our partners about the Summit of the Americas, scheduled to be held in Colombia in mid-April, which will focus on leveraging Hemispheric connections and partnerships to improve the lives of people throughout the region,” said the White House.