Mexico rejects US 'intervention' on cartels

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that he would completely reject any attempt at "interventionism" by the United States. His comments came after US counterpart Donald Trump said he would have Mexico's drug cartels labeled as terrorist organizations, a designation which could allow the US to act directly against a perceived threat.

"Cooperation, yes, intervention, no," Lopez Obrador told reporters. He said he had tasked Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to head up talks with US representatives on the matter as soon as the Thanksgiving holiday had passed.

Late on Tuesday, Trump had told disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that he had already begun work on the process to have the cartels labeled as terrorists. In the past, the US has labeled the drug-trafficking guerilla gangs in Colombia as terrorists, as well as many Islamist and separatist groups throughout the world.

'We will act firmly'

Writing on Twitter on Wednesday, Ebrard said that he was already in contact with US officials to impress upon them the need to respect Mexico's sovereignty. "We will act firmly," he wrote.

Analysts expect Trump to continue to urge Mexico to do more to address drug gangs in the lead-up to the US presidential election in 2020, just as he has done previously to the Mexican government in an attempt to stop immigrants coming through the country's southern border.

There has been particular pressure for the US government to step up its efforts against the cartels after nine American-Mexican dual citizens were killed earlier this month.

es/aw (Reuters, EFE)

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