:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/3T2I4XB42FG5TKX6IPYVVKR5BY.jpg "From Washington, Marcelo Ebrard reiterated the 4T strategy against fentanyl 1")
Marcelo EbrardHead of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ERS), responded to criticism from Mexican opponents, who insist that the national security strategy is a failure because, mocking the “hugs, not bullets”They assure that AMLO allows drug traffickers in Mexico to operate freely.
These statements have been repeated since the start of the sexennium, but have recently taken on new relevance after statements by a group of lawmakers and former Republican Party officials in the United States (USA) who insist that elements of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEAfor its acronym in English) can operate in Mexican territory to fight against drug trafficking.
Such was the case that Marko Cortesre-elected president of the National Action Party (PAN), who insisted that the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), instead of turning his back on the DEA, he should accept their help.
“López Obrador should listen to US officials, acknowledge the resounding failure of his security policy, and seriously resume the necessary DEA collaboration”
In this regard, Marcelo Ebrard replied, this Monday, March 13, of Washington to this type of criticism and highlighted Mexico’s strategy in the fight against drugs and, in particular, against fentanyl, which is based on four axes:
i) The tightening of the legal and regulatory framework, ii) The extension of the framework and monitoring mechanisms for controlled or dual-use substances, iii) The strengthening of deployment and monitoring in land, sea and customs ports and national territory and iv) Expansion of public health services and care for mental disorders
In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the request of AMLO, launched a campaign to defend Mexico due to the statements of the Republicans, for which he held a working meeting with Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma and the 52 consuls in Washington DC to deal with this problem.
According to what was published by the Federal Government of Mexico, the instruction to the corps of Mexican consuls was as follows: “We are not going to allow them to run into Mexico”This is due to the strong intention that the DEA operates in Mexico.
Following this logic, the federal government argues that there is no need for this to happen, since in the fight against drugs, particularly against fentanyl, the Mexican and American authorities have been a permanent ally on their respective sides of the border. “The proof of this is that so far in the six-year term, Mexico seized record number of over six tons of fentanylwhich avoided billions of lethal doses.
In this perspective, and in order not to allow the consolidation of a narrative based on lies, Marcelo Ebrard asked the ambassador and the consuls to hold information meetings with the Mexican community and political actors with the the purpose of submitting a weekly report; In addition, on the proposal of the consular team, informative material will be disseminated at the headquarters of the consulate and in the local media.
Even with this panorama that draws particular attention to the US-Mexican relationship, the Minister of Foreign Affairs maintained that the Mexican government is favorable to security cooperation with the United States; However, moves away from extreme positions. Furthermore, he recalled that the two governments are working within the framework of the Bicentennial Agreement both to prevent deaths from the use of fentanyl and to prevent criminal groups from gaining access to high-powered weapons.
In other words, the United States and Mexico are working on both sides of the border to fight fentanyl and the generators of violence by interrupting their feed lines at a time generate and accumulate economic resources to subtract their fire capacity.
Finally, the federal secretary announced that in April there will be a meeting in Washington between the security cabinets of the United States and Mexico define the steps that remain to be taken in terms of cooperation in the fight against fentanyl and arms trafficking.