The U.S. Pushes Military Intervention in Mexico for Lopez Obrador to Resume the Detention of Drug Lords

A White House special envoy will arrive in Mexico next week to discuss the terms and scope of Donald Trump's plan to declare drug cartels terrorist organizations. This has been confirmed to LPO by sources from the Mexican government. A complex proposition from the U.S. is expected at this meeting: there will be no military intervention in Mexico by U.S. troops, but in return, the Mexican Security Strategy, which is being drafted, must state that the crackdown on drug lords will continue.

In this way, the Trump administration will win on both sides. At the same time that it ensures the possibility of getting high value targets in the middle of the election, it also neglects a delicate issue for the U.S.: that 60% of the weapons used by Mexican cartels are manufactured in their territory. The Trump administration has not yet come up with ideas or answers to this problem.

"What Trump said creates the impression that there would be military actions in Mexico"

The policy of not capturing drug lords was consolidated during the transition period, and it was officially announced by President López Obrador himself on January 30 when he said at the National Palace that "there is no more war, now we want peace".

This is a complex issue for Trump, who wants arrests and deportations to celebrate for his re-election campaign. The high point for the U.S. government took place in Culiacan, Sinaloa last month, with the failed capture of Ovidio Guzmán, who had been claimed by a DC court since the Enrique Peña Nieto administration.

The U.S. request to target the leadership of organized crime may alter the Mexican government security strategy.