Claudia Sheinbaum has now completed two full months as Mexico’s first female president.
And with the swearing in of Rocío Nahle as governor of Veracruz on Sunday, 13 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities are now led by women, more than ever before.
At her morning press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum heaped praise on Nahle, who served as energy minister for almost five years during the administration of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
She also commented on a New York Times report and noted that United States President-elect Donald Trump asked her how the U.S. could help Mexico with security issues.
Sheinbaum suggests NYT report was inspired by ‘Breaking Bad’
One journalist noted that The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Sinaloa Cartel has recruited chemistry students to make fentanyl.
“Do you have information about that?” inquired the reporter.
The president said that she asked members of her cabinet about the Times’ reporting before declaring that “there is no information about this.”
“… There is a [television] show … that takes place in … New Mexico, … a very well-known show that got a lot of awards about a chemistry teacher,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the Emmy-award winning series “Breaking Bad.”
“I saw some episodes, I didn’t see all of it … but maybe that’s where they got [the report] from, right?” Sheinbaum said.
“Because we don’t have information [about chemistry students making drugs for cartels]. And, in any case, chemistry students shouldn’t get involved in that, right?” she added.
‘Of course we don’t agree with an invasion’
Sheinbaum said that she and Donald Trump spoke about security issues during their telephone call last Wednesday.
“He asked me, ‘How can we help you?'” she said.
“… I explained to him that we have a very competent security cabinet, coordinated by [Security Minister] Omar García Harfuch. I even told him about Omar’s history, the attack he suffered and how he has a history of a lot of professionalism in the Mexico City Security Ministry and now at the federal level,” Sheinbaum said.
The president said she told Trump that it is very important for Mexico and the United States to share information with each other, but emphasized that they must respect each other’s sovereignty when collaborating on security issues.
“And he agreed, he said he thought … [my proposal] was very good,” Sheinbaum said.
” … Of course we don’t agree with a [U.S.] invasion [of Mexico],” she said five days after Rolling Stone magazine reported that members of Trump’s transition team were considering sending the U.S. military into Mexico to combat Mexican drug cartels.
No date set for a Sheinbaum-Trump meeting
Sheinbaum said that she Trump agreed during their call last week that they would meet in person “soon.”
“But we haven’t set a date,” she added.
“… But I am sure that we’re going to maintain a very good relationship,” Sheinbaum said.
Last Wednesday, the president rejected Trump’s claim that she had agreed to “stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border.”
It’s time for women
Sheinbaum noted that she attended the inauguration of Rocío Nahle as governor of Veracruz in state capital Xalapa on Sunday.
She said she went to the swearing-in ceremony “simply because it’s time for women. “
Nahle, a representative of Mexico’s ruling Morena party, is “a woman of action,” Sheinbaum said.
“We already saw her building the Olmec Refinery,” she said, referring to the new Pemex facility on the Gulf coast of Tabasco.
“… And I know she will do a great job at the head of the government of Veracruz.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
