As if the threat of foreign interference in American elections weren’t already high with rampant illegal migration and a Democratic Party that wants to legalize noncitizen voting in every jurisdiction it controls, now the Mexican president himself is wading into U.S. politics.
Republicans are firing back at Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the president of Mexico, who recently threatened to campaign against the GOP after Republican lawmakers called for greater accountability from the Latin American nation with regard to cartel violence.
Angered by Republican calls to designate the cartels as terrorist organizations, Lopez Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, said his country might launch an “information campaign” in order to persuade Mexican Americans to abandon the Republican Party.
Complaining that “this initiative by the Republicans, in addition to being irresponsible, is an offense against the people of Mexico,” the Mexican head of state declared:
“And if they do not change their attitude and think that they are going to use Mexico for their propaganda, electoral, and political purposes, we are going to call for them not to vote for that party, because it is interventionist, inhumane, hypocritical, and corrupt.”
Among those who pushed back at Lopez Obrador is Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who this week led a delegation of his committee members to Mexico.
“Recent comments about American elections are completely unacceptable and undermine our shared goals of promoting safety and encouraging peaceful trade between our nations,” said Smith in a statement, per Fox News.
Smith also spoke on the recent kidnapping of four American citizens by the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, which resulted in the death of two of them. The horrific incident is what provoked Republican calls for action against the cartels.
“The delegation condemns the recent kidnapping and murder of Americans and appreciates the Mexican government’s assistance in pursuing justice for the two slain Americans. Creating a secure border will ensure our countries can continue economic cooperation that allows our citizens to thrive,” Smith said.
Despite the growing power of the cartels and rising organized crime-related violence throughout the country, AMLO stated this week that Mexico is “safer” than the United States.
But in spite of his assurances, the State Department has assessed six Mexican states as having Level 4 travel advisory concerns, warning Americans not to travel there.
AMLO also claimed during a press conference last week that Mexico is not responsible for the fentanyl crisis sweeping America.
“Here, we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl,” said the Mexican president, asserting that the real problem is “social decay” in American society.
“We deeply lament what’s happening in the United States — but why don’t they fight the problem … and more importantly why don’t they take care of their youth?” he added.
The Chicago Tribune joined Republicans in blasting Lopez Obrador over the comments, noting in a fiery editorial:
Mexico’s notorious drug cartels have turned fentanyl production into one of their biggest moneymakers. A 2021 raid by the Mexican army on a lab in Culiacan, the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, revealed an operation producing tens of millions of fentanyl pills monthly for the Sinaloa cartel.
Sinaloa, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and other cartel groups have been flooding the border with shipments of fentanyl. Last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 379 million doses of fentanyl, but it’s clear that a sizable portion of what the cartels smuggle makes it over the border and into U.S. cities and towns.
Lopez Obrador has called his approach to combating drug trafficking “abrazos, no balazos” (hugs, not gunshots). Clearly, this policy has not had the intended results — that is, if AMLO’s actual intention really is to stop the cartels.
On one hand, Lopez Obrador is right to be concerned about the possibility of the U.S. sending in its military under the banner of fighting cartels who have been designated “terrorist organizations.” The last thing the head of any country wants is American armed forces running around their country unilaterally conducting military operations that can be disruptive to and even destructive of civilian life.
As this author previously wrote, invading Mexico is not the answer; it would only result in another endless foreign entanglement for the United States — and the country has had enough of those.
But though his concerns in that respect may have validity, AMLO’s open threat to pick sides in U.S. politics and campaign against one of the country’s two major parties is a brash move that not even greater powers like Russia or China would consider prudent.
Lopez Obrador would do well to tread lightly. If there’s one thing the Washington foreign policy establishment is good at, it’s organizing color revolutions to topple regimes in developing countries, including Latin American ones.
If the Mexican president isn’t able to keep his house in order, and the mess keeps spilling into America’s backyard, the CIA and other Deep State entities may be all too happy to have another regime change project to work on.
