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The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, reiterated that she will seek to strengthen collaboration and coordination with the United States, but warned that the sovereignty and independence of the country are non-negotiable, following her American counterpart, Donald Trump's, threat to attack Mexican drug cartels on land.
“Collaboration with the United States is essential; we need to coordinate since we are neighbors. However, there is something that is non-negotiable: the sovereignty and independence of our homeland,” Sheinbaum affirmed this weekend during a visit to the state of Guerrero, reported international news agencies.
The president instructed Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and, if necessary, with President Trump, to “strengthen coordination” within the framework of the security agreement between the two countries, as revealed on Friday in her morning press conference.
Sheinbaum's statements come after Trump claimed on Thursday night, in an interview with the television network Fox News, that he would begin ground operations against drug cartels, which he accused of "killing 250,000 to 300,000 people" in his country each year.
"Let's start now to attack the cartels on land. The cartels are controlling Mexico," Trump warned. "It is very, very sad to see what has happened in that country."
The president stated that his administration has blocked 97% of the drugs entering by sea, and the next step will be to take action on land against the cartels.
Trump's statements come in a context of increasing regional tension, less than a week after the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, during which the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and transported to New York to be prosecuted for narcoterrorism and other crimes.
Although he did not reveal the scope or location of the possible operations, his statements raised diplomatic alarms in Mexico.
Sheinbaum has insisted in recent days that Mexico and the U.S. have formal mechanisms for joint work and that her country has shared data with its northern neighbor regarding the results of its strategy against drug trafficking.
"The working group we have together is aimed at strengthening our relationship further. This information we are providing about the campaign, seized laboratories, is to ensure everyone has all the information, and within the framework of what we have been working on, to enhance coordination," he specified, according to a report from the channel DW.
Days earlier, Sheinbaum had already rejected a potential military intervention by the U.S. on Mexican territory and stated that it "would be of no use" in reducing violence or drug trafficking.
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