Calls in Mexico for U.S. Intervention
The senator and leader of the opposition National Action Party (PAN) in the Mexican Congress, Marko Cortés, proposed to classify drug trafficking as "terrorism." He also requested that international institutions (meaning from the U.S.) "collaborate" to eliminate the terror that communities in Mexico contend with.[1]
These calls are not new. Three years ago, PAN senator Lilly Tellez presented a reform initiative that would require that members of drug trafficking cartels, who use violence and cause alarm, fear or terror among the Mexican population, be prosecuted for the crime of terrorism.[2] This position follows the line of Mexico's military integration into the U.S. military and subjugation of its sovereignty to that country initiated by Presidents Fox and Calderón.
In the United States, weapons are produced which are then exported and sold to Mexico and in Mexico. In Mexico, drug money and money from the sale of illegal weapons is laundered and drugs are distributed throughout the territory. All of this is done, according to official sources, without the existence of any U.S. cartel, just Mexican cartels. This is how they justify military intervention in the entire continent. For this purpose, they have the Northern Command (Northcom) and the Southern Command (Southcom), in addition to their many intelligence agencies.
In a hearing before the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee in 2022, Northcom Commander General Glen VanHerck emphasized that drug trafficking, migration and human trafficking are "symptoms of a larger problem.... and that is transnational criminal organizations." He added that "the instability they generate... offers opportunities for actors like China, like Russia, and others who could have nefarious activities in mind, to seek access and influence in our area of responsibilities from a national security perspective."[3]
A year later, in early 2023, Congressmen Dan Crenshaw and Mike Waltz, two Republicans from Texas and Florida respectively, introduced the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUFM) Resolution "on cartel influence." In language that echoes the 2001 broad authorization for the use of military force in response to the 9/11 attacks, the legislation purports to empower the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against "foreign nations, foreign organizations, or foreign persons affiliated with foreign organizations."
In this way, the U.S. president determines whether someone has committed specific drug-related crimes or used violence to control territory for illicit purposes.[4] Recall that during his first administration, in November 2019, then President Donald Trump announced that the proposal was under consideration. Echoing Trump this September and since, Crenshaw and others in Congress have said the U.S. is “at war” with the drug cartels and called for use of the military in Mexico.
In 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott proposed labeling cartels and migrant smugglers as terrorists. Later, on March 10, 2023, 21 state attorneys general asked Biden to do the same.
On March 29 of last year, Lindsey Graham, senator for South Carolina and staunch Trump supporter, presented an initiative to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. The proposal is yet another example of U.S. insistence that Mexico intervene more prominently in the fight against armed groups. Crenshaw, Graham and other Trump backers threaten that unless Mexico does more, U.S. military intervention will take place, including drones and troops.
General Michael Guillot, a member of the U.S. Air Force who has served as commander of Northcom, stated on March 13 of this year that the cartels are more willing to confront Mexican security forces; that irregular migration has reached record levels in the last year; and that violence related to the fight between rival cartels for control of drug and migrant trafficking is on the rise. As a consequence, this generates instability and challenges to the rule of law, he said.
All of this fuels the idea of the necessity for U.S. armed intervention to "help fight organized crime."
On June 29, 2024, General VanHerck concluded a visit to Mexico. According to U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar, during his visit he met with federal government officials to discuss issues related to bilateral security cooperation. He met with the Secretaries of National Defense and of the Navy, Luis Crescencio Sandoval and Rafael Ojeda, respectively, at the official residence of Salazar, who published a photograph of the meeting on social media. In it, the three military men appear in civilian clothes.
"Operational military compatibility is built through lasting relationships and combined training opportunities with you!" the Northcom general said on social media after the meeting.
The joint protocols and processes involving the U.S. and Mexican armed forces are linked. The Pentagon receives strategic data from the Mexican Army, in addition to selling it technology and equipment on a preferential basis.
Since 2014, Mexico has participated in the Tradewinds military exercises, which have been conducted by Southcom since 1984, following the U.S. invasion of Grenada and in the face of "threats from the then Soviet Union and Cuba."
These annual exercises have a multinational and multi-domain collaborative approach; they involve land, air, maritime, amphibious and cybersecurity scenarios.
And, for the first time, from May 7 to 21, 2022, Mexico co-hosted the Tradewinds exercises with Belize. On that occasion, the manoeuvres were held on Mexican territory: in Chetumal, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen.
Mexican military commanders were also present on May 24, 2023 in Panama, at a police academy in the capital city. On this occasion, the head of Southcom, General Laura Richardson, warned of the need to unite to confront the "threats against democracies" from "autocratic governments."
The event took place at the closing of joint military maneuvers, in which military and special forces participated from about 20 countries of the Americas participated; among them, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Richardson stated that the democracy team "is a powerful team working across the board to ensure a free, secure and prosperous Western Hemisphere."[5] This statement is an open call for military forces to undertake coups against what the U.S. calls "dictatorships." This of course refers to any progressive government in Latin America and the Caribbean.
On December 2, 2023, on the occasion of the bicentennial of the Monroe Doctrine, Richardson had called for again implementing the Doctrine to secure Latin America's resources. She also spoke of the importance of "providing assistance" to the South American and Caribbean region in light of its "infinite and strategic natural resources." She pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean have "oil, 50 percent of the world's soybeans, 30 percent of sugar, meat and corn come from this region."
She also highlighted the need to rival the contracts that China has concluded with South American countries. "It is time to act," she said, pointing to the objective of the United States to recover hemispheric leadership in the face of its "strategic Asian competitor."
In expressing interest in the region's natural resources, the head of Southcom has expressed particular interest in "the lithium triangle: Argentina, Bolivia and Chile," as well as in "Venezuela's oil, copper and gold," and "the lungs of the world: the Amazon" which holds "31 percent of the planet's fresh water."
At the South American Defense Conference, Southdec 2022, held in Quito with the presence of the heads of defense of 11 countries of the region, Richardson warned about the "threat" that China allegedly poses in the region, in terms of the environment, cybersecurity and political destabilization. She also declared that the Asian country continues to support "authoritarian" regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Richardson once again emphasized the need to fight transnational crime and drug trafficking with coordinated work among the countries of the region.[6] She spoke as if it were a matter of organizing a "soccer team" where each player is assigned a certain position. What she did not say is that the United States is the technical director and owner of this "team."
Continuing U.S. domination and interference in Latin America and the Caribbean is clear. This situation begins with Mexico, as can be seen by the role of the PRI opposition party when it was in power, used as a spearhead for the submission of Mexico to Washington's hegemonic interests.
The Mexican people on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border are conscious of the need to thwart the Yankee empire's plans in our land, under the pretext of "helping to fight organized crime and terror." Mexicans do not hesitate to defend their sovereignty against the plans of their aggressive northern neighbour.
Notes
1. Infobae, October 2024
2. Infobae, July 2021
3. Proceso, March 2022
4. Ibero, February 2023
5. France, May 2024
6. CNN en
español September 2022
(Translated from original Spanish by TML.)
This article was published in
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/ITN2024/Articles/TI54503.HTM
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