While Iran and China get most of the attention these days when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, a growing conflict with a much closer neighbor is getting hotter by the day. Tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are at what some describe as a breaking point, as the Trump administration continues to crack down on drug cartels amidst allegations of corruption in the Mexican government. Mexico has cooperated with the effort to some extent, even carrying out military operations earlier this year that resulted in the death of a cartel leader.
But now Mexico is pushing back after the recent U.S. indictment of ten current and former Mexican officials, including the sitting governor of Sinaloa, for helping the cartels. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum refused to turn over the governor, claiming the U.S. did not produce enough evidence, and striking a defiant tone in her statement. "We will not allow any foreign government to come and decide the future of the Mexican people," she said.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) director Terry Cole threw more gasoline on the fire at a Senate hearing this week, when he said, "There's no doubt that the narco traffickers and high-ranking government officials in Mexico have been in bed for years."
That put Sheinbaum on the defensive, when she told reporters, "We want a good relationship with the United States government. What are our limits? The defense of sovereignty and respect for the Mexican people and their dignity."
Bob Price, associate editor with Breitbart Texas, says Sheinbaum is in a tough position. "I'm sure, quite literally, she has to have fear for her own personal safety," he tells KTRH. "On the other side, you've got President Trump saying we're going to war with the cartels, and you're either with us or against us...and if you won't help us then we'll find a way to do it ourselves."
Doing it ourselves may involve even tougher action beyond indictments and intelligence operations. Cole said as much when he told the Senate that the recent indictment is "just the start" of "what's to come in Mexico."
Price believes Mexico should heed that warning. "We're well within our rights to use military force against these cartels in Mexico," he says. "They have killed millions of Americans--moreso than any terrorist organization in the world--and we have the right to defend ourselves. And if Mexico won't cooperate, we have the right to enter their country and do what we need to do...and this president will probably do that."
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