Three months after the outbreak of violence in Sinaloa and the claims of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo for the alleged intervention of the US government in the capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, celebrated that the Mexican government is “dismantling” the Sinaloa Cartel with the “support” of Washington.
After assuring that the Joe Biden government supports Mexico with “respect for sovereignty,” Salazar specified that he gives “ideas” to Sheinbaum through Juan Ramón de la Fuente and Omar García Harfuch, respective secretaries of Foreign Relations and of Security and Citizen Protection in the new administration.
After a meeting with representatives of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), including its president, Francisco Cervantes Díaz, Salazar offered a press conference in which he reviewed the issues of the commercial and security relationship between the governments of Joe Biden and Sheinbaum.
Regarding the commercial issue, Salazar gave a reassuring speech, as he stressed that although Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports of Mexican products and that there are “risks” regarding the USMCA, he is “confident” that the renegotiation of the trade agreement will “go well.”
In addition, he said that Christopher Landau, who preceded him at the United States embassy in Mexico and will be Undersecretary of State in the incoming Trump administration, confirmed to him that he has a “Mexican heart,” a more conciliatory message than Trump’s attacks.
On security matters, the diplomat asserted that the collaboration between both countries “broke down” before López Obrador came to power, but that now there is a new relationship marked by operations against the Sinaloa Cartel, an organization that Washington identifies as the main responsible for trafficking fentanyl to its country.
“The cartels, for example the Sinaloa cartel, are being dismantled,” said the representative of the Biden government in Mexico, adding: “I give credit to the Mexican government, the marines, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Guard.”
At the start of his conference, Salazar defended the balance of the USMCA and the commercial relationship between Mexico and the United States, and urged both governments to “work together,” although he called for strengthening “security and the rule of law” to “give certainty to the private sector and its investments.”
Since Donald Trump’s victory over Joe Biden was made official at the polls, Salazar has led a series of press conferences, in a sort of farewell tour to close his mission in Mexico and give his position, and that of his government, regarding the central issues of the bilateral relationship.
In the first, he launched strong criticism against the security policy of Andrés Manuel López Obrador –known as “hugs, not bullets”–, then recognized the results of Mexico’s immigration policy, and celebrated the megaprojects of the so-called Fourth Transformation in the southern and southeastern region.
Yesterday, the diplomat received actors from the cultural and artistic scene of Mexico to celebrate the community ties between Mexico and the United States.
Source: proceso
