President Claudia Sheinbaum affirmed on Saturday that in Mexico “the people govern,” in the context of statements from U.S. President Donald Trump, who claimed that the head of state should have rejected his offer of help to combat drug cartels. During a “Pensions for Well-being” event in Santa María del Oro, Nayarit, the president defended the popular nature of her government. “I like her a lot, but she should finish off the cartels because, whether we like it or not, they govern Mexico,” she stated. Previously, the U.S. president had shared on his social network Truth Social a post from another user indicating that Sheinbaum had repeatedly rejected the possibility of allowing U.S. intervention to confront the cartels. “No. In Mexico, the people govern, but women also govern,” she expressed. During the event in Ixtlán del Río, the governor of Nayarit, Miguel Ángel Navarro, expressed his support for the president and criticized those, he said, who publicly attack her. “And the Fourth Transformation: we are governments of the people, by the people, and for the people of Mexico,” he added. Earlier, during the inauguration of the Free Center for Women in Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, Sheinbaum had addressed the topic without directly naming the U.S. president. “Yesterday I said: ‘Who governs Mexico?’ because then they go around saying that ‘others govern Mexico.’ In Mexico, the people of Mexico govern! That is the difference. Before, one governed for a few,” she said. “A few minutes ago, President Trump made a post there on his social media related to Mexico,” she said. “But perhaps he is not very well-informed because we are working with the United States on the security issue, but there is a condition we have always set, because we can collaborate, work together, but there is something the people of Mexico have fought for our entire lives: sovereignty, and that is not up for negotiation. Long live the sovereignty and independence of Mexico,” she added. Sheinbaum has insisted that cooperation between the two countries can continue in various areas, but without allowing the intervention of foreign armed forces on national soil. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia were not invited to the “Shield of the Americas” summit held last Saturday in Miami, where Trump met with about a dozen right-wing Latin American leaders to promote a regional military alliance against drug trafficking. “The people put us in power,” she stated. “There are those who say: ‘In Mexico, who knows who governs?’ No. “If we speak on the international plane, yes, there are countries and very close ones that have unprecedented military power, but what we Mexicans here and there have is our greatest wealth: our dignity and the defense of our sovereignty,” she maintained. The president's statements come after U.S. President Trump criticized Sheinbaum on Friday for rejecting his proposal for direct military cooperation to combat cartels on Mexican soil. Before boarding the presidential plane, Trump told reporters that he offered support to confront criminal organizations, but the Mexican president declined the offer. “She should not have rejected my help. I offered to end the cartels in Mexico, and for some reason she does not want to do it. “Let them understand and listen well: we with the President are prudent, we are patient, we are tolerant, but we will defend the President as far as necessary, whatever it takes, whatever it takes!” he affirmed. The state leader added that although there are countries with great military power, Mexico's main strength is the defense of its sovereignty. “We came to government with principles, with causes. No one put us in power to govern. The message included a video of the president's press conference on March 9. Photo: Reuters The president reiterated on Friday her position on cooperation with the United States on security during an event of the “Pension for Women Well-being” program in Tecomán, Colima.
