Ted Cruz urges Mexico to follow El Salvador’s harsh crackdown on cartels

MEXICO CITY AP U S Sen Ted Cruz reported Friday that Mexico should take a page out of El Salvador s book in cracking down on drug cartels and take the United States up on an offer to help combat organized crime The Republican senator from from Texas who stopped in Mexico after visiting Panama and El Salvador this week appeared to imply that the U S could take particular actions against drug cartels on its own if Mexico declines joint action It would be far preferable for it to be cooperative and so my hope is the authorities of Mexico will recognize that defeating these cartels is overwhelmingly in the interest of the citizens of Mexico Cruz stated a news conference My message to the governing body of Mexico is accept our offer as a friend Cruz did not respond when required to elaborate on the offer which he mentioned multiple times during the news conference Cruz s suggestion and earlier offers by U S President Donald Trump of U S military intervention have heightened Mexico s sensitivity over its sovereignty Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum flatly rejected Trump s offer earlier this year to send U S troops to fight the cartels which his administration declared as foreign terrorist organizations The United States is not going to come to Mexico with their military Sheinbaum declared earlier this month We cooperate we collaborate but there will be no invasion It s off the table absolutely off the table There has been evidence of collaboration Earlier this month the Mexican executive certified that it had requested assistance from a U S governing body drone in an organized crime inspection in central Mexico Cruz commented he met with Mexico s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ram n de la Fuente and other officers speaking largely on shield and migration issues During this dialogue it was emphasized that Mexico s relationship with the U S A is based permanently on the principles of shared responsibility mutual trust full respect of our sovereignty and cooperation without subordination Mexico s foreign affairs ministry announced later on X Facing tariff threats by the Trump administration Sheinbaum has been more aggressive than her predecessor in going after Mexican cartels This month her administration sent dozens of cartel leaders to the U S And Mexico has long worked with the U S to slow the flow of migration north contributing to extremely low numbers of illegal crossings Despite that cartel violence has continued to plague Mexico Cruz on Friday suggested that Mexico should take a more heavy-handed approach to criminal violence as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has done The Salvadoran populist has suspended key constitutional rights and imprisoned more than of his country s population to beat back the country s gangs The approach has fueled accusations that Bukele is violating human rights and putting at pitfall El Salvador s democracy but the drop in crime has made the president extremely popular at home and turned him into a sort of folk hero for the American right-wing Source