‘We do not agree with these attacks’: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on US strike against drug-transporting vessels

US announces another strike on drug boats

The Mexican President’s comments come hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US military carried out three strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean targeting drug trafficking vessels, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor.

Hegseth also said that Mexican search and rescue authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor. But, he did not clarify whether that person was successfully rescued or would stay in Mexico’s custody or be handed over to the US.

Even though Sheinbaum has claimed that she did not agree with the strikes, which the US insists were carried out in international waters, security analyst David Saucedo told the Associated Press that the Mexican President has been frequently invoking sovereignty to say there will be no American intervention.

“That’s the discourse, the narrative, but in reality, Mexico’s government has aligned with the interests of Washington,” Saucedo said. “What I see is a total and complete collaboration between the Mexican and American government in this.”

57 dead in US strikes since September

A total of 57 people have been killed in 13 US military strikes on suspected drug-transporting vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean since September.

Only three people, including the survivor from Monday night’s strike, are known to have survived the aerial attacks.

Earlier, two people from Colombia and Ecuador had survived a strike, and the US military, which rescued them, had repatriated them to their respective countries. Authorities later released the Ecuadorian man after prosecutors said they had no evidence he committed a crime in the country.

Despite claiming that the targeted vessels were carrying narcotics to the US, the Trump administration has shown no evidence to support its claims about the boats, their connection to drug cartels, or even the identity of the people killed in the strikes.

US vs allies over drug trafficking

The strikes also have strained ties with other historic allies like Colombia, a country whose intelligence is crucial to American anti-narcotics operations in the region.

Last week, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and a member of his government, accusing them of being involved in the global drug trade.