Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
This weekend, President Claudia Sheinbaum accused those seeking foreign support of being “traitors.” She expanded on her comment by saying, “I say this loud and clear: only traitors are in favor of seeking foreign support to solve internal problems.”
She made this statement during the ceremony marking the 111th anniversary of the Port of Veracruz, in recognition of the efforts of Mexican troops to resist the takeover of the port by US troops, an occupation that lasted 10 months. She clarified with the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class (Flight IIA) Aegis guided missile destroyer, docked in the Port of Veracruz as a backdrop to her event. The US warship had been supporting US attacks against the Houthis in Yemen from the Red Sea until two months ago. It was presumably brought to the Mexican coast to carry out espionage and intelligence activities against drug cartels in Mexico. And all this with the authorization of the Mexican government, through the Mexican Navy.
And the president ended her speech by praising the good relationship between Mexico and the United States. Treason or good neighborliness? What is the truth?
In the recent history of the good bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, there are many gray areas that complicate the analysis of who is a patriot and who is a traitor.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico if it did not supply water to Texas. And Mexico, without protest or negotiation, opened the tap and delivered water to the United States, harming Mexican farmers.
Trump also threatened tariffs on steel and aluminum products. He imposed them, and Mexico passively agreed not to impose reciprocal tariffs. To date, the situation of inequality persists, despite these tariffs contravening the USMCA. Mexico remains silent. Trump also imposed tariffs on a sector of the automotive industry. And he is threatening tariffs on tomatoes and avocados. Mexico has not responded to either the tariffs imposed or the threats of more tariffs.
Trump declared that the cartels are terrorist organizations, and the Mexican government activated a series of actions that it had not taken in six years of “hugs, not bullets.” Suddenly, more than 800 fentanyl laboratories were found, even though AMLO had said they did not exist. Twenty-nine drug lords, all of minor importance, were handed over to the US justice system, even in violation of Mexican legal procedures for extradition cases. It is unclear what will happen next in the fight against drug trafficking, but US troops are training Navy commandos for future operations. And there is the warship in the port of Veracruz, covering the back of the Mexican president.
On immigration, Mexico could not be more accommodating to the White House tenant. Not only has Mexico accepted the return of all its nationals, but it also accepts people from third countries to help them return to their countries of origin. Additionally, it allows overflights by US aircraft carrying undocumented persons of various nationalities who have been expelled from the United States. There is even the case of a Mexican man defended by a judge in Wisconsin, who the FBI captured, and not a whisper of disapproval has been heard from the Mexican government. The judge was arrested and is subject to criminal proceedings, accused of attempting to obstruct the arrest of the allegedly undocumented Mexican. The judge did more for this individual than the entire powerful Mexican government.
The list is long of how the Mexican government has acceded with extraordinary passivity to Trump’s demands, all under the guise of a supposedly clever strategy called “cool heads.”
Finally, the question remains: Who is the traitor? Is it those who give in to all the demands and pressure from the White House, or those who seek fundamental solutions to serious internal problems?
@rpascoep
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