Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has lambasted a US legislator who has proposed sending US military into Mexico to battle the drug trafficking.
“We are not a protectorate of the US or a colony of the US,” said Lopez Obrador, denouncing the proposal as an “offenCe” to Mexico’s sovereignty, as well as “interventionist”, “inhumane” and “hypocritical”, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We do not receive orders from anyone. The people of Mexico govern here,” the President said at a press conference.
Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas introduced legislation to enable the deployment of armed forces in Mexico to combat drug trafficking, notably fentanyl.
“We are not going to allow any foreign governments to intervene in our territory, much less the armed forces of a foreign government,” the President said.
The US, he said, is failing to tackle drug abuse at home, especially fentanyl addiction among its youths, which is a problem Mexico does not share.
“Why don’t they take care of their young people? Why don’t they take care of their serious problems of social breakdowns?” he asked.
López Obrador characterised the lawmaker’s idea as a “electoral” stunt rather than a genuine effort to combat drug consumption and trafficking, stressing that elections in the United States are approaching.
