“Here, We Confront Drug Traffickers Daily… And The U.S.?”

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

Rebuttal. Sheinbaum Asks What Work is Being Done There to Stop the Cartels: “I Would Like to See a Report From Them.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated that Mexico “doesn’t need support from abroad” because it is a “sovereign country,” and stated that she would like to see a report showing what the United States has done within its own territory to combat drug trafficking and drug consumption.

“We do not need to be judged from the outside; we know what Mexico’s problems are, we take action every day, and we report on it. We handle things here, but what is happening over there? I would like to see a report from the [US] government itself regarding what it is doing and the results achieved,” she said during her morning press conference at the National Palace.

“Where is the work being done to stop cartels or drug distributors in the United States? What is happening with money laundering there? Because we in Mexico are taking action,” she asked.

The President recalled a corruption case involving DEA agents in the neighboring country who allowed the sale of fentanyl in the state of New Mexico.

“The other day, we highlighted a very serious corruption case in the United States; fortunately, action was taken—just as we have done when there is evidence of officials linked [to crime], regardless of their political party.”

Sheinbaum insisted that drug consumption is a matter of public health and youth outreach, and questioned whether Washington takes a critical view of the opioid crisis stemming from prescription medications that it is facing.

“No one agrees with drugs being produced here to be taken to the United States, and we must work to prevent that from happening; but what about those consuming drugs there? Why is there this opioid crisis that stems primarily from medications that were authorized?” she noted. Sheinbaum’s comments follow remarks by her U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, stating that Mexico must take additional measures against narco-terrorist organizations and arrest officials who have aided and abetted the cartels.

“We decide our own destiny”

In Tlaxcala, the President reiterated that Mexico “does not need foreign support, because we are a free and sovereign country.”

While visiting the state as part of the tour for her second report, Sheinbaum asserted the need to remember the past in order to appreciate how much progress has been made, recalling the various times foreign nations have sought to undermine the country's sovereignty.

She explained that following the Revolution and the assassination of Francisco I. Madero, General Venustiano Carranza—alongside other figures of the independence movement—defended Mexico against foreign interference.

“They said: ‘We do not need foreign support; we are a free and sovereign country. There may be a Revolution, but it is we Mexicans who decide our own destiny,’” the President recalled.

Source: Milenio