Mexican President Trys to Reduce Fear of U.S. Military Intervention | Mexico
The sharp exchange of statements over the weekend has raised concerns in Mexico that Donald Trump may push the U.S. military presence in its territory to fight drug trafficking.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum tried to gradually eliminate the situation at a daily press conference on Monday, stressing that communication between the two leaders has so far been “very good.”
However, the episode highlights the difficult path Sheinbaum is driving as she tries to appease Trump and protect U.S.-Mexico trade relations while also defending Mexican sovereignty.
On Saturday, Sheinbaum revealed that she rejected Trump's proposal on a call last week, asking U.S. troops to be sent into Mexico to help with drug trafficking.
“I told him, 'No, President Trump, our territory is inviolable, our sovereignty is inviolable.”
Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had made an offer to Sheinbaum because the cartels were “the terrible people who killed people left and right and kept killing people — they made a fortune in selling drugs and destroying our people.
“The Mexican president is a lovely woman, but she is so scared of the cartel that she can't even be straightforward,” Trump added.
Despite the exchanges over the weekend, the public relations between Trump and Sheinbaum were basically cordial, with many comparing Sheinbaum’s performance with other world leaders clashing with the U.S. president.
The relationship between the United States and Mexico is complex and very important for both countries, spanning trade, immigration and security.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has implemented various tariff plans that have jeopardized free trade agreements between the two countries, and trade for nearly a year has endangered them.
Trump directly linked some of these tariffs to reduce movements for undocumented immigration and fentanyl to the United States across borders, while Sheinbaum's cabinet has been in a strong diplomatic effort to convince him to withdraw them.
Sheinbaum first sent 10,000 troops to the border, and then Mexico sent 29 senior organized crime operators to face justice in the United States, including Rafael Caro Quintero, who was convicted of murdering the 1985 American undercover drug enforcement agency.
Meanwhile, Sheinbaum abandoned her ex and allies, Andrés Manuel López Obrador's handheld security strategy and continued direct confrontation with the arrests and seizures of drugs and guns.
“Trump has created real pressure to force Mexico to take action,” said Will Freeman of the U.S. Foreign Relations Council. “I think Sheinbaum wants to act anyway, but by leaving this pressure behind her is making her job easier.
“I think Trump's vision is that it's almost like a Mexican rebellion,” Freeman added. “And if the Mexican army is unwilling to fight it, and they usually don't seem willing to go all out on the cartel, then the United States should do that.”
But experts say it is not clear that larger military operations fundamentally address Mexico's organized crime problem.
“I think to really change the balance of power between organized crime and Mexican states, you need intelligence, you need accountability through the judicial system, you need political will,” Freeman said.
However, Trump said that if Mexico is not enough to remove the cartel, the United States can take unilateral military action.
Sheinbaum warned that her country would not tolerate “invasions” of U.S. military’s national sovereignty.
“But the Mexican government should not just assume (unilateral military action) won’t happen, no matter how bad the idea is on many levels,” Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, from a global initiative against transnational organized crime, a non-governmental organization. “All situations should be planned.”