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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she will propose constitutional reforms aimed at protecting Mexico’s sovereignty after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The U.S. designations have stirred worry in Mexico that it could be a preliminary step toward U.S. military intervention on Mexican territory in pursuit of the cartels, something Mexico sharply rejects.
“The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation,” Sheinbaum said.
On Thursday, the designation of eight Latin America-based criminal organizations was published in the U.S. Federal Register, carrying out a Jan. 20 executive order by Trump. The U.S. hopes the designation, something usually reserved for terrorist groups with political rather than economic objectives, will increase pressure on the groups.
Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing Thursday that Mexico also wouldn’t allow outside involvement in investigations or prosecutions without authorization and collaboration of the Mexican government.
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s predecessor, had already written into Mexican law limits to how foreign agents could operate in Mexico, limiting their independence and requiring that Mexican authorities be informed of their movements. Sheinbaum proposes enshrining those limits in the constitution.
“What we want to make clear in the face of this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said. “This cannot be an opportunity for the United States to invade our sovereignty.”
Her administration also proposed reforming the constitution to apply the most severe penalties available under law to foreigners involved in the building, smuggling and distribution of guns. Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to prevent the flood of guns into Mexico from U.S. gun shops and manufacturers.
Her Morena party and its allies hold majorities in both chambers of Congress and have been able to pass a number of other constitutional reforms.
