Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has once again rejected the prospect of United States military intervention on her country’s soil, despite increasing threats from her counterpart, Donald Trump.
In her morning news conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum was asked about Trump’s statements a day prior, when he expressed displeasure with Mexico and mused about taking forceful action.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items
- list 1 of 3Mexico’s Sheinbaum says she and Trump agreed to extend trade deadline
- list 2 of 3President Claudia Sheinbaum groped: How unsafe is Mexico for women?
- list 3 of 3Trump says US may strike Mexican drug cartels next, after boat attacks
end of list
“It’s not going to happen,” Sheinbaum replied in Spanish.
She proceeded to explain that she had made her position clear “many times” in telephone conversations with Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
“He has suggested on several occasions or has said, ‘We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups,’” she explained.
While she said she would accept collaboration and intelligence-sharing with the US military, she repeated her stance that no outside intervention would be allowed on Mexican soil.
“We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government,” Sheinbaum continued. “I’ve told him on the phone. I’ve said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio.”
A response to Trump
Her comments come on the heels of an Oval Office meeting between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Monday. The Republican president used the public appearance to address his expanding military campaign against drug cartels and criminal networks in Latin America.
When a reporter asked if he was considering “potentially launching strikes in Mexico”, Trump answered in the affirmative.
“To stop drugs? It’s OK with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” Trump said. “I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. This is some big problems over there.”
He then made a reference to the US bombing campaign that began on September 2.
At least 21 deadly missile strikes have been conducted against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 83 people.
United Nations officials and other legal experts have denounced the military campaign as an illegal form of extrajudicial killing.
Trump, however, suggested the campaign could eventually include strikes on land-based targets in Mexico.
“ If we had to, would we do there what we’ve done to the waterways? You know, there’s almost no drugs coming into our waterways any more,” Trump continued.
“ Would I do that on the land corridors? I would absolutely. Look, every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives, not to mention the destruction of families.”
While Trump has repeatedly used that number — 25,000 — to justify the boat bombing campaign, there is no factual basis for that figure.
Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that fatal drug overdoses have declined in recent years, with 73,960 deaths recorded during the 12-month period ending in April.
The Trump administration has also