A strong and economically healthy Mexico is a fundamental U.S. interest. The Commission holds annual plenary meetings, and its many subgroups meet at various times during the year to discuss myriad topics, such as trade negotiations, migration, law enforcement, cultural relations, education, border cooperation, and the environment. Elections have become more free and fair and the general political climate seems much calmer. Regarding the conflicted southern state of Chiapas, there has been no combat between government and guerrilla forces since 1994, aside from the occasional small skirmish. However, peace negotiations have stalled for over three years.
Crime is a growing political headache for Mexican politicians.
Although the PFP enjoys a reputation for incorruptibility and is projected to grow to a 12,000-person force, it is currently too small to have much effect on crime. Since then, successive political reforms have made it possible for more than a dozen opposition candidates to win the top state job in free and fair elections overseen by state election commissions. The states have few means of raising their own revenues. Northern and more prosperous states have long groused that their citizens contribute substantially more to federal coffers than they receive back from the federal government either in services or budgetary support. In the same vein, opposition governors have also complained about a lack of state-federal government coordination, especially on law enforcement issues.