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MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday downplayed the likelihood of US military action against cartels on Mexican soil, following a report that Washington is considering deploying troops south of the border.
“That won’t happen,” Sheinbaum told reporters in response to an NBC News report that President Donald Trump’s administration is planning ground operations against her country’s powerful cartels.
“Furthermore, we do not agree” with any intervention, the left-wing Sheinbaum added.
Trump has accused Mexico of not doing enough to halt the flow of drugs into the United States.
In addition to designating several Mexican cartels as “terrorist” organizations, he offered in April to send troops to Mexico to fight drug cartels, a proposal that Sheinbaum rejected.
During a meeting with Sheinbaum in September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised her anti-drug efforts and vowed the US would respect Mexico’s sovereignty.
But on Monday, NBC reported that the Trump administration has begun training troops and intelligence officers for a potential mission on Mexican soil.
The report, which cited four unnamed current or former US officials, said however that the deployment was “not imminent” and that a final decision had not been made.
An operation inside Mexico would mark a dramatic escalation of Trump’s military campaign against Latin American drug traffickers.
US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean in recent weeks have killed at least 65 people.
So far, most of the strikes have targeted Venezuelan vessels.
But last week, four boats were blown up near Mexico’s territorial waters, resulting in at least 14 deaths.
A Mexican search for one reported survivor proved fruitless.