Blinken issued the statements about the cartels in Mexico, after being questioned by Republican Lindsey Graham during a hearing in the US Senate.
The Secretary of State of the United States (EU), Antony Blinken, assured that there are some parts of Mexico that are controlled by drug cartels.
When questioned by the republican Lindsey Graham, during a hearing in the US Senate, Blinken warned that the main victims of insecurity are the Mexican citizens themselves.
Do drug cartels control parts of Mexico and not the government? The senator questioned the Joe Biden administration.
“I think it’s fair to say yes,” Antony Blinken replied.
During the hearing, he noted that a proposal by Republican lawmakers to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations could be considered.
Blinken acknowledged that Mexico has seized “record amounts” of fentanyl, which causes the death of Americans; however, he pointed out the importance of improving the security strategy and using technology to detect the entry of this drug.
Tension between Mexico and the US over cartels and fentanyl
The statements are given, after Mexico and the United States have registered a tension after the kidnapping of four North American citizens, where two of them were murdered in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
As well as the proposal of US legislators who sought to classify the Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, the issue of fentanyl and, recently, the report on human rights released by the US State Department.
On March 4, William Barr, a former US prosecutor during the Donald Trump administration, even suggested the intervention of the US Army to attack the Mexican drug cartels and thus solve the fentanyl crisis.
In addition, he accused President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of handing over the country’s sovereignty to “narcoterrorists.”
Given these statements, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard warned that Mexico will never allow its sovereignty to be violated. “We are a key partner of the United States, and we must be treated with respect,” he said.
This morning, President López Obrador described the human rights report on Mexico carried out by the United States Department of State (EU) as a “without quality”, which warns of corruption, crime, forced disappearance and restriction of freedom of expression.
In his press conference, he denied that there are massacres or torture in Mexico.
The president has indicated that the insistence of Republican legislators on the security issue with Mexico is due to the proximity of the US elections.
Source: Animal Politico
