Despite Marco Rubio’s public praise for Mexico’s crime-fighting efforts, concerns persist regarding the nation’s longstanding relationships with criminal cartels. U.S. Secretary of State, who issued a statement highlighting Mexico’s cooperation with the United States in the fight against crime, made the remark from the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, where the upper echelon of Mexico’s political elite was visibly approving of the statement. This was a significant stance for Rubio, a Latin America hawk, to take, offering relief to Mexico’s government facing potential economic threats like tariffs, the end of the USMCA, American extraditions of its cartel-connected political class, and U.S. military strikes. The statement, however, raises numerous questions about the true extent of this cooperation given the historical context of Mexico’s governance.
The Mexican government’s relationship with the United States has faced challenges under both the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and his successor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (2018-2024). Peña Nieto’s tenure was marked by widespread corruption, and Lopez Obrador, who is suspected of having ties with the Sinaloa Cartel for at least two decades, led a regime that has been described as a narco-state, supporting hemispheric dictatorships like those in Cuba and Venezuela. The current administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, Lopez Obrador’s handpicked successor, has taken steps to improve relations with the United States, including closing the border and extraditing cartel leaders, but has not addressed the deep-rooted collusion between the regime and its criminal cartels. The article suggests that until this strategic issue is resolved, any arrangement with Mexico is temporary, and the problem remains unsolved as long as the state-cartel alliance remains in effect.
The article presents three major possibilities for the current level of cooperation: it could be seen as an unearned praise from the U.S. aiming to appeal to better natures, it could be deemed sufficient by the American government, or there may be real action underway against Mexico’s narco-state apparatus. The piece highlights the need for visible signals of action to validate the Secretary of State’s rhetoric. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of verifying the claims of cooperation, as the United States seeks to trust but verify, highlighting the complex relationship between the two nations in the context of organized crime and political alliances.