Mike Vigil, former director of International Operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), stated that Donald Trump will continue to pressure Mexico in the fight against the cartels, in light of the recent actions taken by the U.S. president.
Regarding Trump’s offer to send CIA personnel to Mexican territory to destroy drug labs—especially those producing fentanyl—Vigil explained in an interview with Infobae Mexico that the proposal is alarming because it would demonstrate a possible intervention by the United States.
“Why do they want to send the CIA? What are they going to do that the DEA and the FBI can’t do? They aren’t operatives, they’re intelligence analysts. It doesn’t make sense,” he explained.
Vigil elaborated that historically, anti-drug cooperation has been carried out through agencies like the DEA and the FBI, so Trump’s intention to send the CIA represents a paradigm shift.
Possible military intervention in Mexico?
Vigil explained that the recent attack on Venezuela to arrest Nicolás Maduro Moros, as well as those carried out this Saturday in Syria, are cause for concern due to the possibility that Trump wants to send troops into Mexico to achieve his objectives.
“That is worrying, because he did the same thing in Venezuela, before invading or attacking, to remove Nicolás Maduro. I am concerned that he will try to enter Mexico with troops thinking he can combat drug trafficking,” the former agent stated.
Given this scenario, the former agent said he does not rule out a possible military deployment in Mexico.
Since the beginning of his administration in January 2015, Donald Trump has implemented measures against criminal organizations and pressured the country with tariffs, which has escalated to the point of declaring a possible ground military deployment.
Despite Trump’s statements, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has affirmed that the proposal to send U.S. agents into Mexico to combat the cartels has been rejected on multiple occasions in order to protect national sovereignty.
Although Vigil initially ruled out any U.S. government interference in Mexico, he explained that Maduro’s arrest and the lack of congressional action to limit the use of military force are clear warning signs.
“Initially, I thought it wasn’t possible, simply because it seemed crazy. But now we have someone who is threatening many countries around the world, and then he enters Venezuela, supposedly to capture Maduro,” he explained.
In the event of a deployment, Mike Vigil believes the states they would focus on would be Sinaloa and Jalisco, with the intention of capturing the brothers Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar; Ismael Zambada Sicairos, “Mayito Flaco”; and Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho.”
The former DEA agent commented that the recent alert issued to U.S. airlines regarding military actions in Mexican airspace also represents a measure to pressure Mexico on security matters, which could continue.
However, he pointed out that U.S. authorities do not understand the complexity of the cartels because they believe they “can destroy them overnight.”
“They don’t know about drug trafficking, they don’t know how it works, they don’t know, for example, that the Sinaloa cartel operates on six of the seven continents; they can’t be eliminated. The best strategy Donald Trump could adopt, which he hasn’t, is to reduce consumption and demand (for drugs),” Vigil asserted.
Amid the tension between the two nations due to U.S. demands for “tangible actions,” Sheinbaum has reiterated that she will not allow the entry of U.S. military personnel, but rather that cooperation will be maintained with respect for sovereignty.
Source: infobae
