Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum revealed Wednesday that she asked Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente to meet with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson to discuss improving the protocol for combating organized crime in international waters, following recent U.S. attacks on vessels suspected of drug trafficking.
“I spoke with the Foreign Minister and asked him to convene the Ambassador to tell him that what we want is for this protocol to be improved, within the framework of the security agreements we have with the United States, but that it should continue to operate,” the mayor stated during her morning press conference.
The mayor recalled that on Tuesday, the United States intervened against a boat allegedly carrying drugs in international waters.
Sheinbaum specified that the incident occurred “within our country’s latitude and longitude, in international waters.”
We do not agree with these interventions, and we have a model, a protocol that has yielded many results.
The president’s proposal was to conduct a joint operation with the Mexican Navy if the boats, allegedly linked to drug trafficking, are near the country’s international waters, and to arrest the crew members.
Sheinbaum reported that the Mexican foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to address the issue, given concerns that these actions could pose risks to Mexican citizens or violate national sovereignty.
“We don’t want any violation of our sovereignty, nor do we want these types of operations in the exclusive economic zone, precisely because action is being taken. And second, because there could be a Mexican citizen—regardless of whether they are a criminal or not, a suspected criminal—on one of these vessels.”
The president added that the U.S. ambassador expressed his willingness to review the existing protocol and propose improvements within the relevant agencies in his country.
“The ambassador agreed in principle. He obviously has to take it to the various levels of the U.S. government, but in principle he agreed that a protocol similar to the one previously used should be promoted.”
Furthermore, the president confirmed that if another survivor of a U.S. attack on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel comes forward, Mexico will intervene again, as “it is a humanitarian matter and also part of international maritime law.”
Mexico and the United States discussed “maritime cooperation” on Tuesday, following the U.S. attack on four vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking, carrying 14 people in the Pacific Ocean. One survivor is currently being actively searched for by the Mexican Navy.
Source: aristeguinoticias
