Mexico Fears Strikes Over Cartels

New president cracks down on organized crime to blunt Trump threats

- JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA

MEXICO CITY-The onceunthinkable prospect of U.S military action on Mexican soil is dominating the political conversation in Mexico as the country braces for Presidentelect Donald Trump's second term.

With Trump and his allies floating the use of American military force against Mexico's drug cartels, Mexican officials have tried to learn whether he is serious or merely blustering to gain leverage in talks about shutting down the pipeline of migrants and drugs heading into the U.S. Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has rushed to blunt criticism from Trump's orbit and put to rest worries at home that there is any danger from the country's neighbor to the north.

"There won't be an invasion," Sheinbaum said at a recent news conference. "It's not going to happen." Despite her assurances, some Trump allies have made military action against the cartels a common refrain, including his choices for national security adviser and defense secretary: Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.) and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, respectively. Trump campaigned on ending the flow of fentanyl to the U.S., where it accounts for the most overdose deaths of any drug, with about 76,000 fatalities in 2023, according to U.S. government figures.