New conflict between the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Republican Party. Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who is behind the proposal to name terrorist groups and declare war on the Mexican cartels, has a fresh attack following the Lagos de Moreno tragedy, the case of the disappearance of five young people that shocked the country started against the President the last few days. “My question to the President of Mexico is: how much violence can his country take, where is the limit?” Crenshaw asked in a video shared on his social media on Tuesday. “It’s time to declare the cartels enemies of Mexico and the United States,” he added.
“It’s time to end the political games and act together against this threat,” Crenshaw said in a direct question to López Obrador. Both have been at odds with allegations and allegations regarding the Mexican government’s security strategy for months. “You said I want to invade Mexico, but you know that’s not true,” said the conservative politician, who last November proposed legislation for the United States allowing the use of military force on Mexican territory. “It’s about time we came to your aid,” said the Texas representative, a veteran of the Afghan and Iraq wars.
The suggestion that the US Army should fight the Mexican cartels is not new. It is an initiative that emerged from the Barack Obama administration and gained strength during the Donald Trump administration, although it never materialized. Amid the fentanyl crisis, which kills tens of thousands of people each year in the United States, the idea regained momentum, with the assumption that the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel were behind the trade that fueled the epidemic due to the use of synthetic drugs.
Last March, Crenshaw and other Republican Party members commemorated the killing of two Americans in the border town of Matamoros to reiterate the failure of López Obrador’s policy on organized crime. The Mexican President stressed that Mexico was “not a colony of the United States” and reiterated that the proposal was illegal and contrary to international law. He also labeled the politicians pushing the proposal as “weaklings” and “interventionists.”
Crenshaw said in an exclusive interview with EL PAÍS in late July that his proposal had been misinterpreted and that he would never encourage an “invasion of Mexico”. In his social media post, the politician emphasized this idea. He also repeated the formula: insist on the proposal just days after the startling cases that ravaged across the border. The five young men had been missing since August 11, and days later a disturbing video circulated of criminal members forcing them to kill each other. The case continues to be the focus of media coverage and public outrage in Mexico.
Authorities took great care in finding the bodies of the boys, who were only between 19 and 22 years old. The discovery of multiple bone segments at an insured farm was announced this week. It was thought they might match those of the boys, but the Jalisco government later confirmed they had nothing to do with the case.
“His crime? Refuse to work for the cartel,” Crenshaw said, blaming the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel. Presidential elections will be held in Mexico and the United States next year. Most analysts warn that the Republican Party will continue to seek to cash in on Mexico’s wave of campaign violence and migration. The Republican congressman rejected those versions, saying he didn’t need to cite an anti-immigration and anti-drug speech to guarantee his re-election to the House of Commons. Presidential candidates like Trump and Gov. Ron de Santis have integrated hard-line messages about using deadly force at the border, including against immigrants in transit.
“Mexico will be an issue throughout the process and will be the axis of argument for the Republican Party,” said Marcelo Ebrard, Morena’s presidential candidate and former foreign minister until last June, in an interview with this newspaper last weekend. “Whoever your candidate is, he’s going to be anti-Mexican, in fact he’s one of the few elements that gives cohesion to the party,” added Ebrard, who acknowledged that the consistency in both countries’ election calendars will increase the level of voting complexity in the relationship. bilateral.
“We must act now, before more innocent people are killed. Your country is at stake,” said Crenshaw, who expressed his willingness to meet with the Mexican president to resolve their disagreements. After months of tensions with various sectors in Washington, López Obrador has avoided paying for the controversy in recent weeks. A new open wound for Mexico could reignite controversy between the two countries.
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