Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said Mexico is working with the United States to oppose drug cartels and related criminal activity but will not let the U.S. military operate on Mexican soil. File Photo by Isaac Esquivel/EPA-EFE
Aug. 9 (UPI) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum won’t allow U.S. troops to target drug cartels in Mexico that President Donald Trump has designated as terrorist groups.
Sheinbaum responded to a New York Times report indicating Trump directed the military to target drug cartels in Mexico.
The Trump administration is considering using military force against Mexican drug cartels, including launching missiles from U.S. Navy destroyers to target cartels and their infrastructure.
“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military,” Sheinbaum said on Friday, as reported by The New York Times.
“We cooperate [and] we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion,” Sheinbaum said. “That is ruled out — absolutely ruled out.”
Sheinbaum said U.S. military action in Mexico “is not part of any agreement.”
“When it has been brought up, we have always said ‘no,'” she added.
Despite objections from Mexican officials, Trump directed the U.S. military to target drug cartels that are designated as terrorist organizations, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Although reports suggest the Pentagon is evaluating possible military strikes, it’s unlikely that Trump would okay such operations, The Washington Post reported.
An anonymous U.S. official who is familiar with the matter told the Post that it’s unlikely such military actions would be carried out.
Another said the Pentagon would not use troops on the ground and instead would consider employing drone or naval assets to carry out surgical strikes on cartel targets.
No military strikes are likely to occur soon and possibly never will happen, according to The Washington Post.
The ultimate goal is to protect U.S. citizens against violent crime and deadly drugs, such as fentanyl, that originate from south of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Trump administration.
“President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Washington Post.
Trump earlier this year designated eight drug cartels, including six in Mexico, as terrorist organizations.
Sheinbaum at the time said the United States can’t use the terrorist designation as a pretext for undertaking military operations in Mexico.
Mexican authorities have worked with the Trump administration to lessen the amount if drugs and “migrants” crossing into the United States from Mexico.
Ronald Johnson, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, in a prepared statement said the United States is working with Mexican officials to oppose drug cartels.
“We stand together as sovereign partners,” Johnson said on Friday in a social media post.
“We face a common enemy: The violent criminal cartels,” Johnson said. “We will use every tool at our disposal to protect our peoples.”