The best U.S. minister in Mexico reacted with a blistering critique, saying the nation’s leaders should stop condoning common violence, invest more in security, and strengthen cooperation with the United States.
” To claim there is no issue is to refuse reality”, U. S. Ambassador Ken Salazar told investigators this month. ” And the reality is that Mexico has a very serious trouble.”
At her morning news conference on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shot back, saying that her country was open to” coordination” with its northern neighbor, but not” subordination”.
She noted that Hispanic cooperation has also been praised by the ambassador, who is likely to be replaced by the Trump administration.
” First he says one thing, finally he says things else”, she said.
Sheinbaum, who took business Oct. 1, has adopted a , safety strategy , that carefully hews to that of her father, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who eschewed direct confrontation with criminal gangs in favor of providing greater financial opportunities to at-risk children in the promise of steering them away from murder — a plan he called “hugs no bullets”.
He frequently accused his rivals of exaggerating the range of murders and other crimes. The leader relied on the defense, rather than the officers, to combat organized crime groups, which are among Mexico ‘s , largest companies.
Salazar was again nearer with López Obrador. The ambassador’s criticism of plans to reform the judiciary, which critics saw as a ruling-party energy play, led to a cooling of the relationship in his final months as president.
His most important evaluation of Mexico’s strategy for dealing with crime and drug trafficking has been made this week. He claimed that the previous leader did not want to be given assistance from the United States, which is why the U.S. Mexico safety coordination “has failed in the last year.”
He likewise echoed Sheinbaum’s criticism in Mexico, where he criticized him for not investing more money to modernize the criminal justice system, particularly officers, who frequently end up on group payrolls.
According to Salazar,” You ca n’t expect a policeman to do his job and pay him practically nothing.”
Mexico sent a diplomatic word to Washington invoicing its disapproval of Salazar’s warnings.
The dustup comes at a vulnerable time in Mexico, where there is , strong concern , about President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to implement tariffs, build U. S. troops to go after cartels, do mass deportations and more militarize the border.
Mexico has seen , continued group war, murders and killings since Sheinbaum took business.
López Obrador, a long-time friend of Sheinbaum and the founding member of the social group for which she is currently the standard-bearer, did not immediately respond.
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