The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, reaffirmed this Monday that her government has rejected the proposals of the United States president, Donald Trump, for US troops to enter Mexican territory to combat drug cartels, while defending bilateral cooperation on security. "It's good that President Trump says publicly that when he has proposed that the US Army enter Mexico, we have said no," she added. "We don't want drugs to reach the youth of the United States or any youth of Mexico," she added. The debate on security cooperation between the two countries intensified after the capture and death in February of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, considered one of the most wanted drug traffickers by Mexico and the United States. Sheinbaum stated that Mexico maintains coordination with Washington in areas such as intelligence and security, but insisted that operations against organized crime on national territory correspond exclusively to Mexican authorities. "We collaborate and cooperate in intelligence and other activities related to security, but the operations in Mexico are carried out by the Armed Forces or the Secretariat of Security, the National Guard or state police and the prosecutors," she affirmed. The statements come after the US president publicly reminded of telephone conversations with the Mexican president in which, he said, he has insisted that the United States should bomb or send troops to combat Mexican cartels. The US leader made those comments during the inauguration of the meeting called 'Shield of the Americas', an initiative in which about 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean committed to cooperate with Washington to combat 'narco-terrorists', an event to which Mexico was not invited. At that event, Trump described Sheinbaum as a "very good person" with a "beautiful voice", but insisted that Mexican cartels are behind much of the violence and chaos in the hemisphere. The Mexican president reiterated that, in addition to bilateral cooperation, the United States can decisively contribute to reducing violence if it combats the trafficking of weapons to Mexico. "We believe there is something that the United States can help us with a lot: to stop the illegal trafficking of weapons from the United States to Mexico," said Sheinbaum. She also stressed the need to reduce drug consumption in US territory. "There is a very important part that must be worked on, which is the reduction of drug use in the United States."
