Mexico President Says Trump Labeling Cartels Terrorists Won’t Reduce Crime
(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum said that Donald Trump’s decision to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations won’t reduce crime, urging the new US president to work with her nation on security and drug prevention instead.
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Trump has pressed Mexico to stem the flow of drugs across the border into the US, but Sheinbaum argued that his executive order targeting cartels and other criminal organizations will only complicate its efforts to seize fentanyl and fight crime.
“This does not help. What does help is collaborating and coordinating together,” Sheinbaum said at a Friday morning press conference. “The issue of fentanyl consumption is not only an issue of criminal groups. It’s also a public health issue.”
Sheinbaum, who earlier this week warned Trump against interventions in Mexican territory, said a team of lawyers working for her government is now analyzing the potential impact of the decree.
The order has raised concerns among analysts who have said an aggressive interpretation could pave the way for US military action in Mexico, an idea Trump floated before taking office. It has also rattled companies and financial firms fearing that they could become vulnerable to penalties for even unwittingly serving criminals.
Sheinbaum said the government plans to continue collaborating with the US while also advancing its own security strategy.
“Does this definition help avoid fentanyl ending up in the hands of any young person in the world? Does the definition help combat criminal groups or not? That’s what we’re working on,” Sheinbaum said, highlighting Mexico’s recent seizure of a record number of fentanyl pills and security cabinet meetings on other crime issues.
Trump this week reiterated his threat impose a 25% tariff on both Mexico and Canada if the two nations do not do more to limit undocumented migration and combat drug smuggling into the US.
Sheinbaum has spoken out against unilateral decisions from Washington. She said Friday that tariffs were part of Trump’s negotiation strategy with other countries, echoing comments from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Mexican president, who took office in October, also said that she saw a change in Trump’s tone toward trade with Mexico during his Thursday speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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