The president of the United States, Donald Trump, assured this Thursday that his country is about to begin attacks “on the ground” against the drug trafficking cartels, which he stated “are directing Mexico”: “We are going to start attacking on the ground as far as the cartels are concerned,” Trump said in an interview with the Fox News network.
His statements come less than a week after Washington executed a device to capture President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and bring him before a Federal Court in New York to try him for “narcoterrorism.” “The cartels are running Mexico. It is very, very sad to see and realize what has happened in that country. But the cartels are running it and they are killing 250,000 or 300,000 people in our country every year,” added the Republican in the interview broadcast today.
Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has said that he will fight drug trafficking with a strong hand, especially fentanyl from Mexico, and has offered to send the US army to attack drug trafficking.
The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has declined these proposals, arguing that Mexico is a sovereign country and that its Executive is committed to a peaceful solution.
Last Sunday, Trump praised his Mexican counterpart but considered that the president “is worried” and “has a little fear about the cartels controlling Mexico.”
“Something has to be done with Mexico. Mexico has to organize, because (narcotics) are leaking from Mexico. And we are going to have to do something. We would love for Mexico to do it. They are capable of doing it, but unfortunately, the cartels are very strong in Mexico,” said the New York magnate one day after the operation to arrest Maduro.
Trump and his Cabinet have insisted in recent days that Washington will not hesitate to use its military power to defend its national security, which it considers threatened by Mexican cartels.
