“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
During the 109th anniversary of the defense of the port of Veracruz – which commemorates the resistance of the Mexican Armed Forces to the second US invasion of Mexican territory in 1914 – President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told the US government on April 21, 2023, that Mexico “does not want or need help” to fight organized crime.
“Also, from here, from the port of Veracruz, we tell them, and let it be heard well and far away: we do not accept any intervention, we have sufficient capacity to confront organized crime, we do not want interventionism, we do not want help, in quotation marks, from anyone'”, expressed the national president.
“The greatest lesson [of the historical event] is that we are free, we are independent and we, Mexicans, have to settle our differences without the intervention of any country, of any power, of any hegemony. We are free and we are sovereign,” said the politician from Tabasco.
“There is talk in the United States of intervening and confronting organized crime and drug traffickers, treating them as terrorists and for that reason they are going to come to help us, to support us in confronting organized crime. It has cost us a lot to assert our sovereignty and, although these are, I repeat, good intentions, they are matters that only correspond to us Mexicans”, emphasized López Obrador.
“They are going to want to see us divided. We have been closing ranks for quite some time now and our only purpose is to protect our people, with convictions, with mysticism. We will not be divided. We are united and we are strong to confront the mafias of power, both in Mexico and the mafias of power abroad”, he insisted.
“All of us together, that is the priority, the security of our people and also to help, to cooperate with the United States government to face together the problem of drug consumption, especially the pandemic of fentanyl use, cooperation not subordination,” he said.
“First, public security in the country, with all the efforts, all the will to guarantee peace and security in Mexico and, secondly, cooperation in confront drug trafficking and to prevent drugs from reaching the United States, so that they’re not affected by those drugs, above all, which cause death, as is happening, of thousands of young people,” he added.
“In the event that it becomes necessary to defend the territory, to defend our sovereignty, we must not forget that Mexico has a lot of moral authority, it has the support of most of the nations of the world and it has the strength of reason and the strength of the people, the strength of public opinion. No foreign government would dare to set foot in our territory. In any case, if they did, they are not going to defend Mexico, that job belongs only to the marines or the soldiers, we are going to defend Mexico, all Mexicans”, he concluded.
During his speech, Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán, head of the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), assured that the institution under his command “endorses absolute respect for the decisions of our people, endorses a desire to build and establish a country of peace, security and well-being. As you have said, Mr. President, Mexico is to be respected! Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country, here the people of Mexico rule, in memory of the heroes of April 21, 1914.
“The Secretariat of the Mexican Navy endorses an absolute respect for the decisions of our people. It endorses a legitimate desire to build a country of peace, security and well-being, it endorses our dedication to the service of the homeland,” added the head of SEMAR.
WHITE HOUSE REFUSES TO TALK ABOUT AMLO’S ACCUSATIONS ON DEA ESPIONAGE
On April 20, 2023, the White House refused to take a position on the accusations of espionage made by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador against the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Pentagon of the U.S. Department of Justice, but described as a “step in the right direction” the actions and sanctions announced by the U.S. against the Sinaloa Cartel.
“I am not going to talk about President López Obrador’s comments,” declared Admiral John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, in a press conference, when questioned by journalists regarding the constant accusations of espionage launched by the Mexican president against DEA agents and the Pentagon in Mexico.
Kirby noted that during the recent 10th North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City, Presidents Joseph Biden, Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had positive conversations regarding trilateral cooperation to combat drug trafficking.
The spokesperson for the White House National Security Council was asked if the actions and sanctions announced by the US Justice Department against at least 28 leaders and members of the Sinaloa Cartel could be considered espionage.
“What you see here with the actions of the Justice Department is a step in the right direction by this government and we will continue to do it because it is important for the security of the American people,” the admiral stressed.
Kirby, who previously served as Pentagon spokesman, said that US cooperation and counter-narcotics collaboration with the government headed by López Obrador should continue on good terms, because he assured that this was also convenient for Mexico’s security interests.
“And we’re going to continue to have these conversations with our counterparts, particularly with Mexico, which also suffers from cartel activities in some cases,” the White House National Security Council spokesman concluded.