U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar made headlines on Wednesday after labeling Mexico's security policy "a failure" amid escalating cartel wars. He added that the Latin American nation has "closed the doors" on security cooperation with the U.S. and that former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) rejected U.S. aid in equipping Mexican police "for ideological problems":
"Unfortunately this coordination has failed in the last year, in great part because the previous president did not want to receive help from the United States," said Salazar. His comments quickly catalyzed a response from Mexico's Foreign Relations Ministry through a diplomatic note, which expressed "surprise."
On Thursday, newly-minted Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum responded to Salazar herself, defending her predecessor's policies and stating that relations between both countries going forward "cannot be based on subordination."
"There must be high-level dialogue that allows us to coordinate on issues important to both countries; we are also trade partners," said Sheinbaum as reported by La Opinión. "But subordination, no, that does not exist. Mexico is a free, independent, and sovereign country; we coordinate, we work together, but it can't be based on subordination," Sheinbaum stated.
Sheinbaum further highlighted inconsistencies in Salazar's statements, showing a video dated April 24 in which Salazar praised binational security cooperation that led to the capture of cartel figures such as Rafael Caro Quintero and Ovidio Guzmán. "There has to be consistency; there has to be logic in the statements one makes," said Sheinbaum. "You cannot say one thing and then declare another,."
The impasse between Salazar and the Mexican government comes at a time in which the Sheinbaum administration gets ready for what figures to be a challenging relation with incoming president Donald Trump, who warned during his campaign that he would impose up to 100% tariffs on Mexico if the country failed to reduce the flow of migrants across the border.
The Mexican government, through its Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, announced it may impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports on Wednesday if Trump follows through on his promise.
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