By Patricia Zengerle and Emily Green
WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Mexico on Thursday did not rule out unilateral U.S.
military action in Mexico if U.S. citizens were in danger, bringing to the fore simmering tensions between the two countries over how to fight drug cartels.
“Our first desire would be that it be done in partnership with our Mexican partners,” Ronald Johnson told the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his confirmation hearing, but that “should there be a case where the lives of U.S. citizens are at risk, I think all cards are on the table.”
Johnson’s comments underscore a growing consensus within the Trump administration that U.S.
military strikes in Mexico are a possible course of action, a significant departure from previous U.S. foreign policy towards its southern neighbor.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said any unilateral U.S.
military operations in Mexico would violate the country’s sovereignty.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation… (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,” she said in February.
While the U.S.
and Mexico have long carried out joint operations against Mexican cartels, Trump has called for U.S. military strikes to dismantle the criminal organizations, saying he wants to “wage war” on powerful Mexican cartels.
Johnson, who served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump’s first term, had a career at the Central Intelligence Agency spanning more than 20 years. On Thursday, he praised Sheinbaum and said he sought to work closely with Mexican authorities to defeat cartels.
In February, Trump’s administration designated some Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, which experts said could pave the political way for U.S. military strikes in Mexico.
Mexico has long opposed the terrorist designation, arguing the cartels are not motivated by political ends like others on the terrorism list, but by profit.
“We have seen a tightening of security against the cartels that has been done by the Mexican authorities,” Johnson said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Emily Green in Mexico City; Writing by Emily Green; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Howard Goller)
