Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted strongly to a State Department order declaring that several of the country’s drug cartels were terrorist organizations, which led Elon Musk to say they were “eligible for drone strikes.”
“This cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,” Sheinbaum told reporters. “With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence or sovereignty of the nation … [including] violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea or air.”
Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana were all listed as terrorist groups in a Wednesday State Department release.
Mexican authorities claim the label is unwarranted as cartels are motivated by profit not politics, unlike other organizations listed.
Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president said she will not allow attacks of any kind to take place within their sovereign borders although she approved U.S. requests for drone surveillance.
She said this was done in a collaborative effort to curb the flow of cross border drug sales in lieu of President Trump’s postponed 25 percent tariffs on Mexican imports.
Mexico’s president has also pledged to impose harsher policies against criminals who engage in arms trafficking through constitutional reform while cracking down on gun manufacturers in the U.S. for their hand in the illegal sale of weapons.
