President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her disagreement with the decision made by Canada and the United States to label Mexican criminal organizations as terrorist groups, arguing that this measure does not contribute to combating organized crime in the three nations. During her morning press conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum highlighted that labeling these groups as terrorists hampers cooperation and the fight against drug trafficking among the countries.
In response to the announcement by Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, about including Mexican cartels on the terrorist list as part of an agreement with Donald Trump to avoid tariffs, Sheinbaum emphasized that this designation is not the best strategy to tackle the problem of criminal organizations. The president stressed the importance of finding other ways of cooperation to address the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
Sheinbaum pointed out the need for all involved nations to take responsibility in the fight against organized crime, questioning the illegal supply of weapons by U.S. manufacturers to these groups in Mexico. The Mexican president reiterated her rejection of accusations that place Mexican cartels as world leaders in drug trafficking and proposed to initiate a dialogue with Trump to address these issues.
On a related note, Sheinbaum confirmed that the U.S. intelligence plane that flew over the Gulf of California on Monday did so over international waters, without violating Mexican airspace. It was reported that this aircraft, with real-time intelligence collection capabilities, flew off the coasts of Sinaloa and Baja California Sur. The Mexican Army reported that the aircraft was 83 km southwest of Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California Sur, outside of Mexico's airspace.
