There has been much speculation about the possibility of US bombings of strategic targets for Mexican cartels, and according to The New Republic, this could be a reality.
Former and current U.S. military officials who spoke with NBC News said that communication between the White House, the Defense Department, and intelligence officials has included discussion of drone strikes on cartels and their networks in Mexico. No final decision has been made, but the report is still alarming.
The CIA and U.S. military have been conducting more surveillance flights over Mexico in the wake of President Trump last month designating drug cartels in the country as foreign terrorist organizations. While the flights have been approved by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the unilateral hostilities that the U.S. seems to be preparing for are not. This is set to make an already shaky relationship between the two allies even more unstable.
“We’re taking nothing off the table. Nothing,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in February when asked about military strikes in Mexico.
“There is no doubt if there were unilateral action inside Mexico, this would put the bilateral relationship into a nosedive,” former Mexican ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhán told NBC News. “It would be put in a tailspin, as it would represent a violation of international law and an act of war.”
Sheinbaum herself came out in staunch opposition to this very kind of activity from Trump back in February when the administration released the cartel terrorism designation.
“The people of Mexico, under no circumstances will accept interventions, interference, or any other act from abroad that is harmful to the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of the nation,” she said.
“What we want to make clear with this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty, this can’t be an opportunity by the United States to invade our sovereignty…. They can call [cartels] whatever they decide, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination, no interference, and even less invasion,” Sheinbaum concluded.
With information from The New Republic
TYT Newsroom
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