Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum denies knowledge of US drug initiative

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has denied reports that her authorities is teaming up with the United States for a “major caller initiative” to combat drug-trafficking cartels.

In her Tuesday greeting quality conference, Sheinbaum addressed the initiative, dubbed “Project Portero”, which was touted successful the US arsenic an effort to “strengthen collaboration betwixt the United States and Mexico”.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had unveiled the inaugural lone 1 time prior.

“I privation to clarify something. The DEA enactment retired a connection yesterday saying that determination is an statement with the Mexican authorities for an cognition called Portero,” Sheinbaum said.

“There is nary statement with the DEA. The DEA puts retired this statement, based connected what we don’t know. We person not reached immoderate agreement; nary of the information institutions [have] with the DEA.”

Sheinbaum emphasised that lone her administration, not idiosyncratic authorities agencies, would beryllium announcing specified an statement connected behalf of Mexico.

She besides emphasised that the DEA needed to travel established protocols for making associated announcements.

Project Portero is portion of an ongoing propulsion under US President Donald Trump to stamp retired cross-border cause trafficking and aggressively prosecute the cartels and transgression networks that nett from specified trade.

In its statement connected Monday, the DEA called Project Portero its “flagship operation” aimed astatine shutting down drug-smuggling corridors on the border.

It described its concern with Mexico arsenic “a multi-week grooming and collaboration program” that would bring Mexican investigators unneurotic with US enforcement officials astatine an quality tract connected the southwest border.

Part of their task, the connection said, was to “identify associated targets” for the 2 countries to pursue.

“Project Portero and this caller grooming programme amusement however we volition combat — by readying and operating broadside by broadside with our Mexican partners,” DEA head Terrance Cole said successful the statement

“This is simply a bold archetypal measurement successful a caller epoch of cross-border enforcement.”

But Sheinbaum said nary specified bilateral enactment was planned, though she speculated that the DEA mightiness beryllium referring to a tiny grooming workout involving 4 Mexican constabulary officers.

“The lone happening we person is simply a radical of constabulary officers from the Secretariat of Citizen Security who were conducting a store successful Texas,” she explained.

She did, however, constituent retired that her authorities was actively moving with the Trump medication to cement a borderline information agreement, based connected communal acknowledgements of sovereignty and respectful coordination.

Since taking bureau for a 2nd word successful January, Trump has repeatedly pressured the Sheinbaum authorities to stem the travel of immigrants and drugs crossed their countries’ shared border.

That includes done the menace of tariffs, a benignant of taxation imposed connected imports. In precocious July, Trump announced helium would support tariffs connected Mexican products astatine their existent complaint for 90 days.

Previously, helium had threatened to hike the tariff complaint to 30 percent connected the ground that fentanyl was inactive reaching US soil.

“Mexico inactive has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to crook each of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground,” Trump wrote successful a missive to Sheinbaum earlier that month.

Even with the 90-day pause, Mexico inactive faces a 25-percent taxation — which Trump calls a “fentanyl tariff” — connected each products that bash not autumn nether the US-Mexico-Canada escaped commercialized statement (USMCA).

Still, Trump has expressed warmth towards Sheinbaum, and the Mexican person has mostly avoided nationalist confrontations with the US since taking bureau successful October 2024.

Recently, Sheinbaum’s authorities coordinated with Trump’s to transportation 26 high-profile drug-trafficking suspects to the US for prosecution.

In February, she made a akin deal, sending 29 alleged cartel leaders from Mexican prisons to the US soon earlier Trump threatened to enforce tariffs connected her country’s imports. It was Mexico’s largest captive transportation to the US successful years.

But Sheinbaum has besides faced scrutiny implicit her handling of Trump’s assertive overseas argumentation platform.

Earlier this month, for instance, Trump’s State Department issued travel warnings for 30 of Mexico’s 32 states, informing Americans of “terrorist” activities successful those areas.

Trump has besides designated aggregate Latin American transgression groups arsenic “foreign violent organisations”, and helium reportedly signed an order authorising subject enactment to combat them.

Critics fearfulness that bid could construe into a subject incursion connected Mexican soil. But Sheinbaum has repeatedly downplayed those concerns, saying, “There volition beryllium nary penetration of Mexico.”

Still, she has nevertheless asserted that immoderate unauthorised US enactment connected Mexican onshore would beryllium considered a usurpation of her country’s sovereignty.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies