President Claudia Sheinbaum affirmed that Mexico will not request or allow the intervention of U.S. troops in the fight against organized crime, after her U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, declared that he would be willing to launch attacks on Mexican territory to curb the trafficking of drugs to the United States.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum explained that, following the controversial statements, U.S. authorities clarified that any military action would only occur if Mexico formally requested it. However, the President completely ruled out that possibility.
“We are not going to ask for it; we do not want intervention from any foreign government. There is collaboration, there is coordination, but there is neither subordination nor can we allow an intervention. The last time the United States entered Mexico in an intervention, it took half of the country’s territory,” she emphasized.
Sheinbaum also revealed that in various telephone conversations Trump has suggested the possibility of carrying out a joint military operation, a proposal she has repeatedly rejected.
She said that this position has been communicated to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that Washington understands that bilateral efforts must remain within a framework of respectful cooperation.
The President’s statements came one day after Trump said during a press conference at the White House that he would have no problem attacking targets in Mexico to stop drug trafficking.
“Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs. Mexico is — look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there,” he said.
With this stance, Sheinbaum reaffirmed that the relationship between the two countries must be based on coordination and sovereignty, without allowing precedents of foreign military intervention on Mexican soil.
Mexican Press Agency is part of ALMA, which is dedicated to news and information about Mexico and Mexicans in the United States and is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Focus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Redwood City, California.
