Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has announced plans to propose constitutional reforms aimed at strengthening national sovereignty following the United States’ designation of several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organisations.
The move by Washington has raised concerns over the possibility of direct US military action within Mexican territory.
“The people of Mexico, under no circumstances will accept interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that is harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation,” she assured.
Sheinbaum declared on Thursday during her daily press briefing. She stressed that the proposed measures would apply to all of Mexico’s territory, including “land, water, sea or airspace.”
The US has been flying MQ-9 Reaper drones inside Mexican airspace to monitor drug cartels, according to a recent CNN report, as part of President Donald Trump’s intensified focus on border security.
Sheinbaum and other senior Mexican officials have expressed growing concerns over sovereignty, particularly following revelations of US spy plane activity near the border, even though those flights have reportedly remained within international and US airspace.
Mexico’s Defence Minister, Ricardo Trevilla, stated last week that he had not been informed in advance about the flights.
Sheinbaum’s proposed reforms target constitutional articles 39 and 40, which enshrine Mexico’s independence and sovereignty. The reforms would prohibit any “intervention for investigations and prosecutions without the express authorisation and collaboration of the Mexican state within the framework of the applicable laws.”
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The Mexican president also criticised the US for not consulting her government before designating criminal groups as terrorist organisations. “What we want to make clear with this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty, this can’t be an opportunity by the United States to invade our sovereignty,” she said.
“They can call (cartels) whatever they decide, but with Mexico it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination, no interference and even less invasion.”
In addition to the sovereignty measures, Sheinbaum is also proposing a separate reform to crack down on arms trafficking, specifically targeting “any national or foreigner involved in the illicit manufacture, distribution, disposal, transfer and internment of weapons into the national territory.”
US-made firearms have long been a source of firepower for criminal organisations across Latin America, with Mexico previously estimating that “almost all” recovered crime scene weapons—between 70% and 90%—were smuggled from the US into Mexico.
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