U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Mexico on Wednesday that the United States will take unilateral military action against drug cartels if the Mexican government fails to curb narcotics trafficking.
Speaking at a White House Mother’s Day commemoration, Trump asserted that maritime drug flows have plummeted by 97 percent since he took office, a figure he used to justify potential cross-border operations. However, independent analysts and even internal Pentagon data swiftly refute the president’s number.
Sanho Tree, who heads the Drug Policy Project at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, described the 97 percent claim as fabricated and argued that the administration is deploying misleading statistics to shape public perception.
Meanwhile, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs Joseph Humire told Congress that interceptions of drug-transiting vessels have decreased by only 20 percent in the Caribbean and 25 percent in the eastern Pacific — reductions far smaller than the White House has promoted.
The threat escalates an already tense relationship with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, which categorically rejects any form of armed intervention on its national territory as a violation of Mexican sovereignty. Bilateral strains had already deepened in April with the revelation that CIA agents were operating in the state of Chihuahua without informing Mexico’s federal authorities.
Adding another layer of friction, a U.S. federal court has indicted Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya — a member of the ruling Morena party — and nine other public officials on charges of drug and arms trafficking. While Washington is seeking their extradition, Mexico maintains that it has yet to receive solid evidence demonstrating the suspects’ guilt.
Author: Victor Miranda
Source: agencies
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