Mexico leader defends move to send cartel members to US
MEXICO CITY—Mexico sent 37 cartel members to the United States at the request of the US Department of Justice, with President Claudia Sheinbaum saying Wednesday that it was a “sovereign decision” by her government.
Sheinbaum responded to criticism from analysts and opponents who said that the transfers on Tuesday were the result of mounting pressure from Washington. US President Donald Trump has threatened to take military action on cartels.
Sheinbaum said that although the transfers were made at the request of the US government, the decision was taken by the National Security Council after analyzing what was “convenient for Mexico” and in terms of its “national security.”
“Mexico is put first above all else, even if they ask for whatever they have to ask for. It is a sovereign decision,” she said at her regular morning news briefing.
Pressure valve
Sheinbaum, who has been praised for her level-headed management of relations with Trump, has been forced to walk a fine line between making concessions to the Trump administration and projecting strength both domestically and internationally.
Observers say that the Mexican government has used the transfers as a sort of pressure valve to offset demands by Trump and show authorities are cracking down on criminal groups. Tension has only mounted since the United States carried out a military operation in Venezuela to capture then President Nicolás Maduro to face charges in the United States in an extraordinary use of force that set leaders across Latin America on edge.
