Guatemala City ( CNN ) -- The World Bank will support Central American security efforts with $ 1 billion in loans for the next two years , Guatemalan state media reported Wednesday . That money will be in addition to $ 200 million the bank already has provided to different countries for fighting organized crime , the state-run Guatemalan News Agency reported , citing the bank 's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean . Bank officials are among the international leaders gathered in Guatemala City for a two-day regional security conference . `` In meetings of this kind I see regional leadership , international solidarity , institutional commitment and unprecedented unity among the different national and international actors , and above all , consensus , '' World Bank Vice President Pamela Cox said , according to the news agency . Earlier Wednesday , U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would increase the security aid it provides to Central America this year to help combat a wave of violence sweeping the region . Additional U.S. funding will go toward special police units , a regional crime observatory and support to train judges and prosecutors , Clinton told leaders gathered at a regional security conference in Guatemala City . `` You have identified your priorities . You have set your strategy . And we will respond with almost $ 300 million this year , backed up by an action plan that is focused on high-impact investments to help you build new capabilities and create the reforms you need from within , '' Clinton said . President Barack Obama pledged more than $ 200 million when he visited El Salvador earlier this year , she said . The source of the funding was not immediately clear . On Monday , Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela told reporters Clinton may announce `` repackaging '' some assistance . Clinton said the United States has `` shared responsibility '' for violence in the region . `` We know the demand for drugs rests largely in my own country , '' she said . But she stressed that Central American countries must lead the fight against corruption and organized crime . `` We will all be your ready partners , but we want and need to follow your lead , '' she said . Several Latin American leaders at the meeting said the United States must play a key role combating violence in the region . Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said his country was reaching the limit of its ability to fight cartels . `` Eight killed per ton passing through Guatemala is a lot of blood . If you pass through Honduras there are 20 murders and if we add it up , a ton of cocaine has too high a human cost . We must reduce consumption and control arms , '' Colom said . Mexican President Felipe Calderon , who has repeatedly said U.S. weapons and drug demand are fueling his country 's drug war , said more must be done . `` If the sale of cocaine is a market of $ 35 billion in the United States , according to that calculation , a good part of these billions of dollars must be used to feed the criminal organizations here , '' Calderon said . `` The international aid should be at least equivalent to the flow of money in dollars that the criminals receive here to organize and to kill . '' The conference is scheduled to continue Thursday , when leaders are expected to hash out a more detailed regional plan . The meeting comes a week after Guatemalan authorities announced a monthlong extension of the `` state of siege '' in the northern border province of Peten -- a move that increases military control to crack down on organized crime in the area . Colom declared the emergency measure in May after investigators found the bodies of 27 dismembered and decapitated workers on a farm in Peten . Authorities have said members of Mexico 's Zetas drug cartel were responsible . The slayings provided brutal evidence of what analysts say is a dramatic spike in violence across the region as Mexican drug cartels expand their reach . `` As you look at the pressure placed on Mexican cartels from the U.S. side of the border , you 're going to see more and more of a southbound exodus , '' said Fred Burton , vice president of the STRATFOR global intelligence agency . Social and political conditions in Central America provide a fertile recruiting ground for cartels , said Samuel Logan , founding director of Southern Pulse , an online information network focused on Latin America . High unemployment and few jobs mean many are forced to turn to criminal activities to make ends meet , he said . `` Ultimately , what it comes down to is money . In Mexico , the stakes are bigger , the pots of money are bigger , '' he said . Money also has allowed Mexican organizations to wield significant influence with political leaders in Central American countries , many of which already had a longstanding history of institutional corruption , he said . `` Instead of bending over backwards , you get them to do somersaults , '' Logan said . But despite the significant security problems the region faces , Burton said this week 's conference is a positive sign that leaders may step up efforts to stop violence . `` Discussion and dialogue is better than doing nothing , so the more exchanges you have along these lines , certainly the better off you are , '' he said . CNNMexico.com , journalist Patzy Vasquez and CNN 's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report .
NEW : Billion is in addition to $ 200 million provided for fighting organized crime . Clinton says the U.S. will send $ 300 million in aid to Central America this year . Comment: Analysts say violence is growing in the region as Mexican cartels expand their reach .