"Cold head": Sheinbaum responds to Trump's insistence on eradicating drug cartels in Mexico

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reacted to the statements of her US counterpart, Donald Trump, who this morning insisted on implementing actions from his government to dismantle drug cartels in Mexico. The president was questioned about the issue upon arriving at the Inauguration of the National High School Ixtapaluca campus, in the State of Mexico; however, she limited herself to responding that she must have a “cool head” and that she will speak on the subject on Monday, possibly in her morning conference. "On Monday, on Monday. Cool head. Yeah, on Monday," he said as he entered the event, without getting out of his truck.

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What did Trump say about drug cartels in Mexico?

President Donald Trump led the "Shield of the Americas" summit this morning in Miami, Florida, where leaders from more than a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries met to discuss strategies against organized crime and drug trafficking. Mexico was not invited to the meeting, which marked a clear exclusion of one of the most relevant countries in the region's anti-drug agenda. During his speech at the summit, Trump stated: “The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our armies. We have to use our army. You have to use your army.” In this regard, he insisted that the only way to end drug cartels in the region is through coordinated military action between the participating countries. Trump presented the event as the beginning of an international coalition, similar to the one that fought against the Islamic State in the Middle East, to combat the cartels in the hemisphere. "We have to eradicate them or it's going to get worse," he declared, underlining the threat that cartels pose to regional security. The "Shield of the Americas" brought together representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. Mexico, as well as Brazil and Colombia, the three largest and most influential nations in the region, were absent. You can also read: International analysts highlighted that the absence of Mexico and Brazil weakens the scope of the initiative, as Mexican cartels play a central role in drug trafficking and Brazilian ports are key on the routes to Europe. Trump directly criticized Mexico's role as the "epicenter" of cartel activity and noted that most of the violence and drug trafficking in the region comes from that country. He also questioned Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for what he called an insufficient response to the power of the cartels and stressed that the United States will strengthen its security and cooperation actions with allied countries, and invited those present to toughen their own internal policies to confront criminal organizations.