Mexico City. Mexico’s ruling Morena party has rejected assertions made by U.S. President Donald Trump that Mexico poses a national security threat to his country, calling it “the epicenter” of criminal violence in the Western Hemisphere. The party simultaneously reaffirmed its support for President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and her government’s foreign policy decisions.
The issue was brought up for discussion during a session of the Morena National Council on Saturday, with members requesting it be added to the agenda. Arturo Ávila, spokesperson for the Morena faction in the Chamber of Deputies, announced the party’s position, which was then put to a vote among council members.
The position is “a rejection of the statements that President Trump has unfortunately made, saying that the epicenter of cartel violence is Mexico, that Mexican cartels are fueling and orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere, and that the United States government will do whatever it takes to defend that national security.”
Ávila added, “It seems very clear that if there is a government that has fought directly and forcefully against organized crime and against the cartels, it is the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. And of course, the results speak for themselves, refuting any communication narrative that may be constructed, either in Mexico or abroad, by the right wing attempting to intervene in our country.”
Prior to Ávila’s remarks, Alfonso Durazo, president of the Morena National Council, noted that the Saturday session was taking place “at a singular moment of international order and disorder,” and stated that the executive branch leader “has opted for a serene reaffirmation of national sovereignty.”
Responding to chants of “presidenta, presidenta,” followed by “you are not alone, you are not alone,” Durazo, who is as well the governor of Sonora, emphasized that “Without eccentricities or grandstanding, she has opposed the Monroe Doctrine with the Estrada Doctrine. Our recognition.”
He highlighted that the president, “with nerves of steel, has demanded full respect for sovereign equality and the self-determination of peoples as a minimum condition for international coexistence.”
Durazo also underscored that “no foreign policy is sustainable if it does not rest on a domestic policy based on democratic legitimacy and social cohesion founded on the well-being of the people. It is here that the political harmony within the movement takes on its strategic meaning,” and called for the party to reaffirm its full support for the president. This show of support comes as tensions rise between the two countries over approaches to combating drug trafficking and border security.
