At the limit between Tamaulipas and the United States, an area considered the most dangerous border, 300 members of the National Guard were deployed on Thursday as part of an agreement between President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump to combat drug, arms, and human trafficking. The operation, called 'Northern Border of Tamaulipas', included the deployment of 144 military personnel in Matamoros, a border city with Brownsville, Texas, and the rest in Mier, Nuevo Laredo, and Reynosa, areas affected by persistent violence.
Diego Rangel, an inspector of the National Guard, explained to EFE that the objective is to inhibit illegal trafficking in the region, including drugs, people, and arms. The agents arrived in the area on Tuesday and began patrolling the streets this Thursday, leaving from the Eighth Motorized Cavalry Regiment in Matamoros to establish checkpoints and review vehicles in the city.
Some residents were surprised by the presence of the National Guard but expressed their confidence that these measures would help reduce insecurity in northern Tamaulipas. As part of the operation, Playa Bagdad and key points along the Rio Bravo will also be monitored, where massive crossings of migrants have been recorded in the past.
The duration of the operation in Tamaulipas under this program is not defined, but it is expected to yield results to maintain stable relations between Mexico and the United States. Earlier this week, Sheinbaum announced an agreement with Trump to pause the imposition of tariffs on Mexican products in exchange for deploying 10,000 members of the National Guard at the border.
The White House had threatened to impose tariffs as a pressure measure due to the trade deficit and irregular migration, also alleging a supposed alliance between Mexican cartels and the Government of Mexico that endangered the security of the United States, something that Sheinbaum called "terribly irresponsible."
