Mexican Corrections Instructors Graduate from New Mexico Training Academy

Mexican Corrections Instructors Graduate from New Mexico Training Academy

Bureau of Public Affairs

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

April 23, 2009

On Friday April 24, 2009, the first class of twenty-four federal correctional instructors from Mexico will graduate from the New Mexico Corrections Department's (NMCD) Training Academy in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The officers will return home and serve as the initial cadre of instructors at Mexico's first-ever corrections academy in Xalapa, Veracruz. There, the instructors will begin teaching the first basic academy class of 200 new cadets.

As part of the Merida Initiative, the Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is assisting the Government of Mexico with establishing the corrections academy which is scheduled to be officially opened in late June 2009.

The Mexican correctional cadets began their six-week training class at the NMCD Training Academy on March 16. The cadets received basic instruction for four weeks, defensive tactics instructor course for one week, and during the final week, they received train-the-trainer instruction. Graduation is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at the NMCD Training Academy gymnasium, located at 4337 State Road 14. Dignitaries from Mexico and the U.S. Department of State will be present.

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the New Mexico Corrections Department have a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the Corrections Department to train and mentor prison staff from Mexico and Central America.

Note: For security reasons, neither photography nor videotaping of the graduating officers' faces is allowed. Reporters planning to attend the ceremony must contact the New Mexico Corrections Department Public Information Office in advance.

Tia Bland

Public Information Officer,

New Mexico Corrections Department

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tel: (505) 827-8660

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/04/122131.htm