Mexico reacts to Trump’s plan to designate drug cartels as terrorists

World Today

Mexico reacts to Trump's plan to designate drug cartels as terroristsFamily and friends unload the coffins that contain the remains of Rhonita Miller, and four of her young children Krystal and Howard, and twins Titus and Tiana, who were murdered by drug cartel gunmen earlier in the week, for a burial service at the cemetery in Colonia Le Baron, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 8, 2019. The bodies of Miller and four of her children were taken in a convoy of pickup trucks and SUVS, on the same dirt-and-rock mountainous road where they were killed Monday, for burial in the community of Colonia Le Baron in Chihuahua state. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

In Mexico, there’s been swift reaction and concerns following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced plan to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

The Mexican government has stated flatly that it will “never accept any action that violates” its national sovereignty. CGTN’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

Just three weeks after nine dual U.S. Mexican citizens, including women and children, were killed by gunmen in an ambush, President Donald Trump announced that something has to be done to tackle the issue of organized crime in Mexico.

Family members of those massacred urged the president to respond. So on Tuesday, Trump used a radio interview to announce he will designate drug cartels operating in Mexico as terrorist organizations. He said the cartels have killed a number of Americans.

For his part, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted quickly, saying his nation is not open to military or other interventions from the United States.

“In my case, I do not want to turn this into a controversy today nor tomorrow. I will only say cooperation, yes, intervention, no.”

The Mexican president instructed Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to follow-up on this matter.

Ebrard quickly requested a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, hoping to gain understanding of the scope and meaning of Trump’s statement. Trump said his administration had been considering the terrorist designation for the past three months.

Leaders of Mexico’s Congress also came out strongly against the idea of the United States intervening inside Mexican territory on security issues.

Members of President Lopez Obrador’s Morena Party said that would amount to a clear violation of Mexican sovereignty.

Political analyst Javier Aparicio said Trump’s move is provoking widespread concerns because it forces the domestic issue of Mexican security onto the international stage.

Trump’s plan comes just as the Lopez Obrador administration is struggling to control drug-related violence in key parts of Mexico, and days before AMLO, as the president is known, marks his first anniversary in office.