President Barack Obama heads to Mexico City on Thursday to meet with President Felipe Calderon, before traveling to Trinidad and Tobago for the fifth Summit of the Americas. Both nations are suffering economically, Mexico's border states are engulfed by drug violence, and U.S. immigration reform initiatives have stalled.
美国总统奥巴马在飞往特立尼达和多巴哥参加第5届美洲峰会之前，星期四将前往墨西哥城与墨西哥总统卡尔德龙会晤。美国和墨西哥目前都遭受经济危机的重创，墨西哥边境几个州的毒品暴力日渐猖獗，美国的移民改革提议被搁浅。
America's porous border with Mexico stretches more than 3,000 kilometers and drug-fueled violence along that border is a growing problem. Drug-related killings in Mexico's northernmost states doubled last year to about 6,000, amid bloody battles between cartels and security forces.
美国与墨西哥两国边境长达3000多公里。边境上问题重重，毒品引发的暴力更是越来越严重。去年，在墨西哥最北部的几个州，与毒品有关的杀人事件增加了一倍，数目达到6000多人。另外，安全部队和毒品团伙之间的血战也是不断。
Mexico could become failed state
The lawlessness and carnage has led some Mexico-watchers to suggest the country is at risk of becoming a failed state. President Calderon acknowledges Mexico has a problem, one that will be a focal point of his meeting Thursday with President Obama in Mexico City.
边境线上无法无天的局面和残杀使得一些墨西哥观察人士认为，墨西哥正面临崩溃的危险。墨西哥总统卡尔德龙承认墨西哥面临问题，这将是他星期四与奥巴马总统在墨西哥城会晤时的焦点问题。
"We have a problem of violence and organized crime that we have to tackle," Mr. Calderon said. "Both countries have to do this. Violence and crime are problems not only of Mexico, as President Obama has acknowledged. These are common problems we have to face together."
卡尔德龙说：“我们确实存在必须要解决的暴力以及犯罪团伙问题。两个国家都不得不采取措施。暴力和犯罪不仅仅是墨西哥的问题。就像奥巴马总统曾经说过的那样，这是我们不得不共同面对的问题。”
For his part, President Obama has noted America's appetite for illegal narcotics fuels the drug trade, and weapons from the United States are finding their way into traffickers' hands.
奥巴马总统也指出，美国人对非法麻醉品的需求是引发毒品贸易的原因，另外，美国的武器也正落入毒品走私团伙的手中。
"We have got to reduce the demand for drugs," the president said. "We have got to do our part in reducing the flow of cash and guns south [to Mexico]."
他说：“我们必须减少对毒品的需求。我们必须尽我们的能力，减少金钱和枪支南流。”
On that point, Mexican officials heartily concur, saying they cannot eradicate the drug trade unless the United States cuts off traffickers' access to money and weapons.
这一点得到了墨西哥官员的一致赞同。他们说，除非美国切断毒品走私团伙获得金钱和武器的渠道，否则他们无法根除毒品贸易。
Top US officials dispatched to Mexico
The Obama administration has boosted the number of federal agents along the U.S. border with Mexico. And, in advance of his meeting with President Calderon, Mr. Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials to Mexico to formulate a coordinated response to the trafficking threat.
奥巴马政府向美国墨西哥边境增派了联邦工作人员。另外，在与卡尔德龙总统会晤之前，奥巴马还派出国务卿希拉里.克林顿和国土安全部长纳波利塔诺以及其他高层官员前往墨西哥协调行动，共同应对走私威胁。
But some observers want cooperation to go further. Erika de la Garza directs the Latin American Initiative at Houston's Rice University. She offers this suggestion.
但是一些观察人士希望双方的合作可以更进一步。休斯顿赖斯大学拉美中心主任德拉加扎提出以下的建议。
"To create a bi-national border authority where they would craft policies together," she said. "Making it more systematic and institutionalizing it would have greater benefits."
他说：“成立一个两国共同的边境管理部门，共同制定政策，并使得这些政策系统化和制度化，这样会获益匪浅。”
Immigration also a major concern
Immigration concerns will also likely surface in talks between Presidents Obama and Calderon. More than half the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States are Mexican. During last year's presidential campaign, Mr. Obama pledged to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, but has not addressed the subject in detail since taking office.
在奥巴马和卡尔德龙的会晤中，移民问题很有可能成为两人关注的议题。美国现有1200万非法移民，其中超过一半的人来自墨西哥。奥巴马在去年竞选总统时，曾经承诺将进行大规模的移民改革，但是自从上台后，他一直也没有着手解决这个问题。
A major complication in tackling the immigration issue is the global economic downturn, according to Ricardo Blazquez, director of the Center for Inter-American Border Studies at the University of Texas. Blazquez says, at a time when millions of Americans are out of work, any proposal perceived as aiding undocumented laborers stands almost no chance of passage.
德克萨斯大学美洲边境问题研究中心主任布拉斯克斯认为，处理移民问题时一个最复杂的问题是全球经济衰退。他说，在数百万美国人失去工作的时候，任何被认为是帮助非法劳工的提议都不会有机会得以通过。
"Immigration is a significant issue and will remain a significant issue," he noted. "I think the limiting factor would be the current state of economic affairs that really would not promote an open political resolution to the issue."
他说：“移民问题现在是，将来也会是一个重大问题，我想，眼下的经济状况是限制这个问题的因素。这种状态真的不利于公开地以政治手段来解决这个问题。”
What about trade agreements?
The deep recession will also affect the two leaders' discussion of trade issues and commercial concerns. As a candidate, Mr. Obama said he favored renegotiating parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and criticized other trade pacts as lacking environmental and labor provisions.
严重的经济衰退也会影响两位领导人就贸易和商业议题进行的会谈。在竞选时，奥巴马说，他赞成就北美自由贸易协定的部分条款重新进行谈判，他批评其他贸易条约没有列出有关环境和劳工问题的条款。
But as president, Mr. Obama has repeatedly spoken out against protectionism, and shown no appetite to cancel existing trade accords.
但是，奥巴马上台后，一再强调反对贸易保护主义，也没有表示有取消现在贸易协定的意愿。
On a separate issue, Mexico has protested America's revocation of a pilot program that allowed Mexican commercial trucks to enter the United States, imposing retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. exports. White House officials are offering no guarantees that Presidents Obama and Calderon will be able to resolve the dispute during Thursday's meeting.
Will Obama get enthusiastic welcome?
Visiting U.S. presidents do not always get the warmest of welcomes from all sectors of Mexican society. President George W. Bush's 2007 visit to Mexico sparked loud protests in several large cities, but President Obama is expected to be greeted enthusiastically, or at least politely, by most Mexicans.
以往到墨西哥访问的美国总统不总是能得到墨西哥各个阶层的热烈欢迎。布什总统2007年访问墨西哥时，墨西哥几个大城市爆发大规模抗议行动。预计，奥巴马的访问将会得到大多数墨西哥人的热情欢迎，至少是有礼貌的欢迎。
Ricardo Blazquez says Mr. Obama should seize the opportunity his relative popularity on the world stage affords.
布拉斯克斯说，奥巴马会抓住他在国际舞台上相对受欢迎的这个优势。
"The benefits of a productive relationship between Mexico and the U.S. are infinite," he said. "I think the option of a failed relationship can no longer exist and cannot be on the table. I think both leaders recognize this."
“墨西哥和美国建立卓有成效的关系带来的好处是无限的。我认为让两国关系僵持不下的局面不会再存在，这是不可能出现的局面。我想两位领导人都意识到了这点。”
From Mexico, Mr. Obama heads to Port of Spain in Trinidad for the Summit of the Americas.
墨西哥访问之后，奥巴马将前往特立尼达和多巴哥的西班牙港，参加美洲峰会。 |