Crossing of reproaches
From his morning press conferences, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has responded that he will defend the sovereignty of that country, has lashed out at the American Republicans, whom he has called “wimps and interventionists”, and has asked that no one I voted for them.
The concern within the Mexican government is such that the foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, travels to Washington as an emergency to weave a strategy with the 50 Mexican consuls in the United States.
For its part, the White House has tiptoed through the controversy and has ruled out declaring the cartels terrorists. “It wouldn’t give us any additional competition,” Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s spokeswoman, said last Thursday.
“It is clear that the Administration understands that this is not the way, but what we will see is increased pressure on the Government of Mexico,” said Sarukhán.
Cooperation between the two countries, which launched the Bicentennial Understanding plan a year ago, has yielded results such as the capture of Ovidio Guzmán, son of “El Chapo.”
But there are more and more voices within the Democratic Administration that are critical of the performance of the Mexican government. The DEA has criticized Mexico for not sharing enough information, while Attorney General Merrick Garland said two weeks ago in the Senate that Mexican authorities could do more against drug trafficking.
For former ambassador Sarukhán, López Obrador’s security strategy is “a disaster” and has brought cooperation to a minimum. But he also believes that Washington has a “very superficial” awareness of his responsibility.
