“We work together, we work together, but there’s no invasion,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in his latest pushback against Trump.
Mexico is seeking the return of citizens detained in “Alligator Alcatraz”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for the return of 14 citizens detained in a US facility called “Crocodile Alcatraz.”
WASHINGTON – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ruled out US “invasion” of Mexico following a Trump administration’s report to use military force against Latin American drug cartels.
“The United States is not planning to come to Mexico with the military,” Sinbaum said at her regular morning press conference on August 8th. “We work together, we work together, but there is no invasion. It will be excluded and absolutely excluded.”
Shanebaum’s comments respond to a New York Times report on August 8 that President Donald Trump ordered US troops to target cross-border fentanyl traffickers using Mexico as their operational hub.
The Times said Trump has secretly signed an order against the cartels to begin using military force in foreign soil. In February, the US designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations. Analysts could be a stepping stone for such military action.
A US official speaking about the terms of anonymity confirmed a new directive to Reuters, but said that military action against the designated groups appears to be unimmediate and it is unclear what kind of operations they will carry out.
Trump has long publicly said that if Mexico fails to dismantle the drug cartel, the US will take unilateral military action. This puts Washington in conflict with its Southern neighbors and its major trading partners. In return, Shanebaum urged Trump to do more to stop the flow of powerful American-made guns from the US to Mexico.
The two leaders made several calls this year to discuss security issues, trade and immigration.
Sinbaum made similar comments after a May 2nd Wall Street Journal report, including how Trump said he was putting pressure on Mexico to allow deeper military involvement in drug cartels on both sides of the shared border.
“Trump) called out, “Can we help you fight drug trafficking? I suggest that the US military come to help you,” said Shanebaum, who spoke on May 2 at a university event near the capital of Mexico City.
“And do you know what I told him? No, President Trump, territory is sacred, sovereignty is sacred, sovereignty is not sold, sovereignty is loved and defended,” Sinbaum said. The two countries can cooperate, but she said, “we will never accept the presence of US troops in our territory.”
“We can work together, we can work together, but you can do it on your territory, we can do it on ours,” Sinbaum said.
Trump reportedly considered military action in Mexico during his first term. His former defense secretary, Mark Esper, wrote in his memoirs that Trump asked at least twice in 2020 if the military could “shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug lab.”
Esper wrote that he replied that it was illegal and would be an act of war.
