In First Meeting With Foreign Leader, Obama Speaks With Mexican President Monday

January 12, 2009 7:42 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President-elect Barack Obama will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Monday following a long tradition, the presidential transition team has announced.

Obama will hold talks with Calderon on Monday at the Mexican Cultural Institute in in Washington, D.C. It will be the President-elect's first meeting with a foreign head of state since winning the election.

Since 1980, American commanders-in-chief have met with Mexican presidents before their inauguration to emphasize close relations between the two countries.

Obama and Calderon are expected to discuss joint interdiction efforts against drug trafficking.

The United States recently approved $1.6 billion to help Central American governments fight drug cartels, and $400 million of that will be devoted to Mexico. The aid is part of the the Merida Initiative, a joint three-year security initiative introduced late 2007 by President George Bush and Calderón.