MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday downplayed the likelihood of US military action against cartels on Mexican soil, following a report that Washington is considering deploying troops south of the border.
“That won’t happen,” Sheinbaum told reporters in response to an NBC News report that President Donald Trump’s administration is planning ground operations against her country’s powerful cartels.
“Furthermore, we do not agree” with any intervention, the left-wing Sheinbaum added.
Trump has accused Mexico of not doing enough to halt the flow of drugs into the United States.
In addition to designating several Mexican cartels as “terrorist” organizations, he offered in April to send troops to Mexico to fight drug cartels, a proposal that Sheinbaum rejected.
During a meeting with Sheinbaum in September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised her anti-drug efforts and vowed the US would respect Mexico’s sovereignty.
But on Monday, NBC reported that the Trump administration has begun training troops and intelligence officers for a potential mission on Mexican soil.
The report, which cited four unnamed current or former US officials, said however that the deployment was “not imminent” and that a final decision had not been made.
An operation inside Mexico would mark a dramatic escalation of Trump’s military campaign against Latin American drug traffickers.
US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean in recent weeks have killed at least 65 people.
So far, most of the strikes have targeted Venezuelan vessels.
But last week, four boats were blown up near Mexico’s territorial waters, resulting in at least 14 deaths.
A Mexican search for one reported survivor proved fruitless.
Sheinbaum says US ‘won’t’ attack cartels on Mexican soil
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Sheinbaum says US ‘won’t’ attack cartels on Mexican soil
- Trump has accused Mexico of not doing enough to halt the flow of drugs into the United States
- US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean in recent weeks have killed at least 65 people
Woman, boy drown off Greece after migrant boat sinks
- According to the UN refugee agency 107 people died or went missing in 2025 off the Greek coast
ATHENS: A boat carrying over 50 migrants sank off the Greek coast, killing a woman and a boy and leaving three others missing, the coast guard said Sunday.
“Fifty migrants have been rescued and are being cared for by the authorities,” after the accident off the island of Ikria in the northern Aegean Sea, a spokeswoman said.
“A rescue operation with a coast guard vessel is underway, and a team of rescuers and divers is expected later today,” she said.
Strong winds were hampering rescue efforts, according to public broadcaster ERT.
Ikaria lies close to Turkiye’s western coast, a frequent setoff point for migrants trying to enter the European Union.
Many migrants also take the much longer route from Libya to Crete in southern Greece.
The perilous crossings are often fatal. In early December, 17 people were found dead after their boat sank off Crete and 15 others were reported missing. Only two people survived.
According to the UN refugee agency 107 people died or went missing in 2025 off the Greek coast. The International Organization for Migration says about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.
