MEXICO CITY: Mexico\u2019s president warned the United States on Thursday her country would never tolerate an \u201cinvasion\u201d of its national sovereignty and vowed fresh legal action against US gunmakers after Washington designated cartels as terrorist organizations.
\nThe remarks were the latest in a series hitting back at the administration of President Donald Trump, which has ramped up pressure on its southern neighbor to curb illegal flows of drugs and migrants.
\nMexico is trying to avoid the sweeping 25-percent tariffs threatened by Trump by increasing cooperation in the fight against narcotics trafficked by the cartels in his sights.
\nThe eight Latin American drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations include Mexican gangs such as the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels \u2014 two of the country\u2019s most powerful and violent criminal organizations.
\nBut the designation \u201ccannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,\u201d President Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference.
\n\u201cThey can call them (the cartels) whatever they want, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.\u201d
\nSheinbaum said Mexico would expand its legal action against US gun manufacturers, which her government accuses of negligence in the sale of weapons that end up in the hands of drug traffickers.
\nThe lawsuit could lead to a new charge of alleged \u201ccomplicity\u201d with terrorist groups, she said.
\nTrump signed an executive order on his first day back in the White House last month saying that the cartels \u201cconstitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.\u201d
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the designations \u201cprovide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups.\u201d
\n\u201cTerrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,\u201d he said in a statement.
\nWhile he did not mention it, the move has raised speculation about possible military action against the cartels.
\nTech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been given a prominent role in the Trump administration, suggested the designation \u201cmeans they\u2019re eligible for drone strikes.\u201d
\nOn Wednesday, Sheinbaum confirmed that the United States had been operating drones spying on Mexican cartels as part of a collaboration that has existed for years.
\nAccording to The New York Times, Washington has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico in search of fentanyl labs as part of Trump\u2019s campaign against drug cartels.
\nMilitary threats from the United States always generate resentment in Mexico, which lost half of its territory to the United States in the 19th century.
\nSheinbaum said that she would present to Congress a constitutional reform to protect \u201cthe integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation\u201d including against the violation of its territory by land, air or sea.
\nMexico says that between 200,000 and 750,000 weapons manufactured by US gunmakers are smuggled across the border from the United States every year, often being used in crime.
\nThe Latin American country tightly controls firearm sales, making them practically impossible to obtain legally.
\nEven so, drug-related violence has seen around 480,000 people killed in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.
\nWhile she has ruled out declaring \u201cwar\u201d on drug cartels, Sheinbaum has quietly dropped her predecessor\u2019s \u201chugs not bullets\u201d strategy, which prioritized tackling the root causes of criminal violence over security operations.
\nHer government has announced a series of major drug seizures and deployed more troops to the border with the United States in return for Trump pausing tariffs for one month.
\nMexican authorities also announced the arrest this week of two prominent members of the Sinaloa Cartel, including the head of security for one of its warring factions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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