Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Wednesday the United States would ramp up strikes on cartels after blowing up an alleged drug boat off Venezuela, but assured Mexico of respect to its sovereignty.In the highest-level meeting between the two neighbors since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Rubio met for an hour and a half in Mexico City with President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has sought cooperation in the complicated relationship with Washington.The visit came a day after Trump said US forces blew up an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is a nemesis of the United States.Rubio pledged to ramp up the stakes for drug traffickers, saying that years of peaceful interdiction has not worked and not affected cartels’ bottom line.The United States “blew it up and it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now,” Rubio told a news conference.”These are not stockbrokers. These are not real estate agents who on the side deal with drugs.””If you’re on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl, whatever, headed to the United States, you’re an immediate threat to the United States,” he said.But Rubio made clear that he did not have similar qualms about Mexico and hailed the efforts by Sheinbaum.”It is the closest security cooperation we have ever had maybe with any country but certainly in the history of US-Mexico relations,” he said.In a joint statement, the two countries said they “reaffirm our security cooperation, which is based on the principles of reciprocity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, shared and differentiated responsibility, as well as mutual trust.”Sheinbaum, addressing reporters on Tuesday before the strike, said that any US military “intervention” in Mexico was a red line.- Sign to Venezuela -AFP has not been able to verify the number of people in the boat and their identities.The attack marked a major escalation of US action after Trump signed an executive order authorizing military action against drug cartels.But Venezuela is a unique case, as the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist firebrand whose last election in 2024 was widely seen internationally and by the opposition as riddled with irregularities.Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado hailed what she called a tightening of the “siege imposed by Western democracies” on Maduro’s “narco-terrorist cartel.””Venezuela is almost free,” Machado said in a video. “Nothing can stop a people who have already decided to be free and live in democracy.”- Pragmatic approach by Sheinbaum -Sheinbaum, who also comes from the political left, has sought a pragmatic relationship with Trump, who has voiced respect for her despite his past harsh comments about Mexicans.Like her predecessor and fellow leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum has largely cooperated with Trump in his key priority of curbing migration to the United States.Mexico has stepped up enforcement on its borders in recent years — including its own southern border, a gateway for Central American migrants to the United States.Sheinbaum has also taken steps to curb imports from China, whose manufacturers have eyed Mexico as a way into the US market.The Trump administration has already imposed a slew of new sanctions in hopes of weakening major cartels in Mexico.Trump blames the cartels for the flow of fentanyl, the powerful painkiller behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Wednesday the United States would ramp up strikes on cartels after blowing up an alleged drug boat off Venezuela, but assured Mexico of respect to its sovereignty.In the highest-level meeting between the two neighbors since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Rubio met for an hour and a half in Mexico City with President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has sought cooperation in the complicated relationship with Washington.The visit came a day after Trump said US forces blew up an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela, whose leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is a nemesis of the United States.Rubio pledged to ramp up the stakes for drug traffickers, saying that years of peaceful interdiction has not worked and not affected cartels’ bottom line.The United States “blew it up and it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now,” Rubio told a news conference.”These are not stockbrokers. These are not real estate agents who on the side deal with drugs.””If you’re on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl, whatever, headed to the United States, you’re an immediate threat to the United States,” he said.But Rubio made clear that he did not have similar qualms about Mexico and hailed the efforts by Sheinbaum.”It is the closest security cooperation we have ever had maybe with any country but certainly in the history of US-Mexico relations,” he said.In a joint statement, the two countries said they “reaffirm our security cooperation, which is based on the principles of reciprocity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, shared and differentiated responsibility, as well as mutual trust.”Sheinbaum, addressing reporters on Tuesday before the strike, said that any US military “intervention” in Mexico was a red line.- Sign to Venezuela -AFP has not been able to verify the number of people in the boat and their identities.The attack marked a major escalation of US action after Trump signed an executive order authorizing military action against drug cartels.But Venezuela is a unique case, as the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist firebrand whose last election in 2024 was widely seen internationally and by the opposition as riddled with irregularities.Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado hailed what she called a tightening of the “siege imposed by Western democracies” on Maduro’s “narco-terrorist cartel.””Venezuela is almost free,” Machado said in a video. “Nothing can stop a people who have already decided to be free and live in democracy.”- Pragmatic approach by Sheinbaum -Sheinbaum, who also comes from the political left, has sought a pragmatic relationship with Trump, who has voiced respect for her despite his past harsh comments about Mexicans.Like her predecessor and fellow leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum has largely cooperated with Trump in his key priority of curbing migration to the United States.Mexico has stepped up enforcement on its borders in recent years — including its own southern border, a gateway for Central American migrants to the United States.Sheinbaum has also taken steps to curb imports from China, whose manufacturers have eyed Mexico as a way into the US market.The Trump administration has already imposed a slew of new sanctions in hopes of weakening major cartels in Mexico.Trump blames the cartels for the flow of fentanyl, the powerful painkiller behind an overdose epidemic in the United States.
