People are dying as Obrador exploits Biden’s weakness

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Normally a foreign leader complaining about negative American media press coverage isn’t worth noting. But when that leader’s country is the top exporter of a product that has become a leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, and when the press coverage accuses that leader of taking drug cartel money, Americans should pay attention.

“I don’t accept this. What I want is for the U.S. government to take a stand,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a press conference this month. “President Biden has to find out about this. How are we going to sit down at a table and talk about fighting drugs if one of their agencies is leaking information and damaging me?”

Obrador’s call for Biden to interfere with fair reporting wouldn’t be so worrying if our president had not established a pattern of weakness and subservience in his dealings with Obrador.

Unlike his predecessor, who used threats to force Obrador to help U.S. policy objectives, Biden has chosen silence and conciliation. 

While Obrador has used the Mexican army to consolidate his political power and nationalized everything from airports to energy projects, Biden has said nothing. While Obrador has weakened Mexico’s civil institutions, including by cutting funds and power from his country’s independent elections body, Biden has said nothing. When Obrador violated trade agreements by discriminating against American energy producers, Biden said nothing. And when an early draft of a Dec. 28 White House communique named “democratic decline” as a cause of mass migration, Obrador objected, and Biden caved and removed the phrase.

Most worrisome has been Biden’s refusal to push Obrador to tackle Mexico’s drug cartels. Obrador was elected on a slogan of “hugs, not bullets” when it comes to gang violence. After one incident in which Mexican soldiers were seen running away from cartel gunmen in Nueva Italia, Obrador explained his order that they not fight back, “We take care of the members of the armed forces, the National Guard. But we also take care of the members of the gangs. They are human beings.”

As a direct result of Obrador’s excessive tolerance of cartels, crime has skyrocketed in Mexico, the cartels now control large swaths of the country, and fentanyl exports to the United States have exploded. When the Drug Enforcement Agency indicted 28 members of the Sinaloa cartel, Obrador blasted the action as “abusive, arrogant interference that should not be accepted under any circumstances.” Biden did not defend the DEA and has refused to criticize any part of Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” strategy.

ProPublica has reported that Obrador insiders take campaign cash from the Sinaloa cartel. The evidence in the article is from a specific incident more than a decade ago, but if true, it would establish a pattern of disturbing behavior. It is widely acknowledged that the cartels play a major role in funding Mexican political campaigns and have murdered dozens of candidates.

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It is past time for Biden to ignore the lawlessness and probable corruption of the Obrador regime. He should announce an investigation of Obrador’s inner circle for drug trafficking, and he should threaten punishment of Mexican trade with the U.S.

With many Americans dying, it is intolerable simply to wait idly and hope that Obrador will suddenly turn into an effective partner. There must be action from Biden. We know from the previous administration that Obrador understands and responds to threats that would weaken his political position. Biden needs to stop being so weak and naive and get tough with our southern neighbor.

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