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For months now, tension with the United States, our main trading partner, has not only been evident, but has increased. One of the news that intensified the problem was the capture of Ismael May Zambada, since communication and cooperation between both nations, contrary to what many of us thought, were seen to be fractured.
With the triumph of Donald Trump, the future of the bilateral relationship began to become much more aggressive; Issues such as migration, border security, tariffs, the treaty between our country, the United States and Canada, reform of the Judiciary, trade and, of course, drug trafficking have been escalating in intensity and hostility.
During his campaign, Trump mentioned that if he won the elections, he planned to bomb various targets, especially related to the cartels in our country, since they have been, on repeated occasions, held responsible for the fentanyl pandemic that has flooded parts of the United States.
It is alarming that the next US president makes decisions with such boldness against our country, without considering the consequences that his actions may trigger between both nations and even around the world. According to an article in New York Timesin 2020 Trump consulted with his then Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, about the possibility of launching missiles at Mexico, to destroy drug labs
and annihilate the cartels.
This assertion is reported in the book A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times (Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense during Extraordinary Times) dwhere he narrates other incidents that made him seriously rethink the image of Trump as a person willing to use all the resources at his disposal to achieve his objectives.
The crisis generated by organized crime has reached delicate and worrying levels. It was not only during the Trump administration that the idea of attacking the cartels has been put on the table; In 2021, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, urged President Joe Biden to recognize Mexican cartels as terrorists, since the danger of these organizations was high for his state.
Abbott himself issued an executive order on September 21, 2022 recognizing them as terrorist organizations and ordering the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to take immediate action to keep Texans safe amid the growing national fentanyl crisis.
The organization and violence that characterize these criminal groups caused Daniel Reed Crenshaw, a US senator and former Navy Seal officer, to attack the then president Andrés Manuel López Obrador last year, questioning him about who he represented, whether the people or the cartels. and, of course, he returned to the idea of authorizing the use of the US armed forces against organizations that traffic fentanyl, presenting the so-called Resolution on the influence of sign.
Crenshaw was also joined by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley and Steve Daines; But despite the efforts of various political actors, so far there is no official resolution.
However, with the arrival of Trump the panorama may change radically, especially because it must be kept in mind that the Republican has a majority in both chambers, which would undoubtedly give him an important advantage when approving laws and reforms.
But what would it mean if military force were used against the cartels in Mexico? Wouldn’t these actions reinforce the popular idea that the United States can impose order under its own guidelines? Would the population in Mexico be willing to sacrifice sovereignty and freedom? nationals so that the neighbor fights drug traffickers, like in other countries?
It is undeniable that increasingly aggressive and belligerent language can entail serious risks. For example, the aforementioned law would grant Trump broad powers to start a series of wars with Mexican criminal structures, above all, so that their choice can be determined entirely by him, that is, it could translate, in some way, into a Blank check for disputes against any organization or person.
On the other hand, even more alarming is what was mentioned in the International Crisis Group, that “if enacted into law, the broad expression ‘necessary and appropriate force’, especially accompanied by the determination (which would be at the sole discretion of the president ) that Mexico constitutes an ‘affiliated’ nation of a contemplated organization, would provide authority not only to carry out missile attacks against cartels such as those mentioned by Trump, but also to invade and occupy Mexico.
Sadly, the fact that these ideas are increasingly considered, and even normalized as an option, can become a risk that any crisis will be countered with military actions, which would distance us from dialogue and teamwork to continue collaborating in others. vital issues for both nations.
* Consultant in security, intelligence, education, religion, justice, and politics
