After U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi referred to Mexico as an adversary for “drugging our children,” President Claudia Sheinbaum was quick to respond.
“[Bondi] is not very well informed, to be honest,” Sheinbaum said at her Thursday morning press conference, rejecting the accusation. “There is a great deal of cooperation [between Mexico and the U.S.], and we are about to finalize a new security accord.”
Sheinbaum was referring to the contents of a joint communique that was issued later Thursday by the Mexican and U.S. Defense ministries following reciprocal visits made by leading members of the nations’ respective militaries. Mexico’s Defense Ministry outlined the bilateral cooperation in a Facebook post on Thursday.
During a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Bondi referred to Mexico as an adversary when asked about national security issues.
In response to a question about Iran posed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, Bondi defended U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy saying: “Donald Trump has said it loud and clear: We won’t be intimidated and we’ll keep the United States safe, not only from Iran, but also from Russia, China and Mexico … from any foreign adversary that tries to kill us.”
The U.S. attorney general qualified her words by arguing that threats do not only come from physical attacks, but also from phenomena such as drug overdoses. In that sense, she suggested that the flow of fentanyl and other substances from Mexico represents a form of indirect aggression against Americans.
“From any foreign adversary, whether they try to kill us physically or by drugging our children,” Bondi said.
When asked if Mexico is cooperating to address the fentanyl crisis, she equivocated, suggesting the issue should be discussed privately.
Bondi’s comments came the same day the U.S. Treasury Department accused three Mexican banking institutions of participating in money laundering for organized crime groups involved in fentanyl trafficking between Mexico and the United States.
In February, the U.S. State Department designated six Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
This is not the first time that Sheinbaum has criticized comments made by a member of Trump’s Cabinet.
Earlier this month, Sheinbaum rejected an unfounded allegation by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the Mexican president was “encouraging violent protests” against immigration raids in Los Angeles.
Sheinbaum addresses Noem’s accusations: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped
The reciprocal visits to which Sheinbaum referred on Thursday resulted in the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which the U.S. Northern Command described as “another advance in our bilateral military cooperation with Mexico.”
In a social media post, the U.S. Northern Command described ACSA as “an International Agreement that will strengthen compatibility and facilitate mutual logistical support for training exchange between the U.S. and Mexican armed forces, based on the principles of reciprocity, shared and distinct responsibilities, mutual trust, and respect for sovereign decisions and territories.”
With reports from El Financiero, Infobae and La Jornada
