US President Donald Trump’s war against drug cartels seeks to prevent Mexico from becoming a “narco state,” US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday during his visit to the US-Mexico border, and recalled that his government is empowered to use the Armed Forces against these organizations.
Vance said that the Trump administration designated drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations with the aim of stopping the flow of drugs into the United States.
“Our plan is also doing a great favor to the people of Mexico. If they fail to control these cartels, their people will wake up in a narco state where the cartels will have more power than their own government,” he added.
The vice president explained that after designating the cartels as “terrorists,” the United States can deploy the Army to enforce the law on the border, although these are decisions made by the president.
Vance stressed that he preferred that Mexico take charge of the issue, that “the Mexican government help itself, but also, in the process, help the American people. It will destabilize the entire country, the entire government, if they don’t take it more seriously,” he considered.
“We hope that they do it, and if they don’t, then, of course, we’ll see what to do from there,” he said, although he later responded with a resounding “no” when asked if the new measures gave the green light to the Armed Forces to cross into Mexico and attack the cartels.
“I’m not going to make any announcement about any invasion of Mexico here today. The president has a megaphone and, of course, he will speak about… these issues when he deems it necessary,” he replied.
In turn, an analysis by the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Trump administration has stopped using military aircraft to transport migrants who entered the United States illegally, to Guantanamo Bay or to other countries, because they are “costly and inefficient” according to reports from defense officials.
Three deportation flights to India cost three million dollars each. Some flights that transported a dozen people to Guantanamo cost at least 20 thousand dollars per migrant, according to the Journal’s analysis.
Meanwhile, Republican congressmen reprimanded Democratic mayors Michelle Wu of Boston; Brandon Johnson of Chicago; Michael Johnston of Denver; and Eric Adams of New York for their “pro-criminal” immigration policies in these sanctuary cities. “Sanctuary cities make us all less safe and are a nightmare for public safety,” said the president of the House of Representatives oversight committee, James Comer.
On the other hand, migration to the United States through the inhospitable Darien jungle, on the border between Colombia and Panama, was reduced by 60 percent, reported Colombian Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia. Nearly 300,000 people crossed the Darien in 2024, according to figures from the Panamanian immigration authority. Almost 70 percent were Venezuelans, followed by Colombians with more than 17,000 people crossing the border.
Source: jornada
