WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – The White House announced on Wednesday that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Mexico City, Mexico, leading a Cabinet-Level Delegation to the Merida U.S.-Mexico High Level Consultative Group meeting on March 23.

Secretary Clinton will be joined by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates; Secretary of Homeland Security Janet A. Napolitano; Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair; Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John O. Brennan; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael G. Mullen; Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security John Morton; Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler; Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Director Adam Szubin; Office of National Drug Control Policy Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Supply Reduction Patrick Ward; and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.

Secretary of State Clinton and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa will chair an interagency meeting on the evolution of the Merida Initiative. In the meeting it is expected that important topics, like the drug trafficking war, democratic institutions and human rights, will be discussed.

This is the second formal meeting of the High Level Consultative Group. The first was held in December 2008. The Merida Initiative is an historic program of cooperation that acknowledges the shared responsibilities of the United States and Mexico to counter the drug-fueled violence that has threatened citizens on both sides of the border.