Recent reports of drones allegedly controlled by Mexican drug cartels along the southern border have raised alarms in both Mexico and the United States.
The Feb. 10 closure of airspace over El Paso and parts of New Mexico, combined with continued demands from the Trump administration for Mexico to intensify its fight against organized crime, led Mexican lawmakers to authorize the entry of 19 members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 2 to train Mexican special forces.
As reported by Border Report, SEAL Team 2 is expected to arrive in Campeche, Mexico, on Feb. 15 and will remain at the Luis Carpizo naval facility until April 16.
The Navy SEALs visit comes at the invitation of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has publicly emphasized her goal of better preparing Mexican military and law enforcement personnel to combat drug cartel violence.
As noted by Sheinbaum, this is not the first time U.S. troops have trained their Mexican counterparts on Mexican soil. Last February, members of the U.S. Army’s 7th Special Forces Group, also known as the Green Berets, stayed at the Campeche naval base to train the Mexican Navy’s marine infantry in conventional and unconventional combat tactics.
The Mexican president has repeatedly stressed that any security cooperation with the U.S. is strictly limited to sharing information, coordinating diplomatically, and providing emergency assistance while always maintaining a zero-tolerance stance toward any foreign intervention, a possibility that has been floated in the past by President Donald Trump.
Although the cooperation passed nearly unanimously in the Senate, some members of Congress voiced objections.
Controversial Sen. Gerardo Fernández Noroña said their entry “should not be accepted even if they only come to plant little trees,” while Sen. Alejandra Barrales of the Movimiento Ciudadano party raised concerns about the increasing frequency of U.S. military visits to Mexico, noting that some occur without Senate approval.
“On Jan. 17, various news outlets reported the landing of a military aircraft, a Hercules 3, at Toluca International Airport. This U.S. aircraft is used for military purposes,” Barrales said. “Whether or not it carried weapons, it was a military plane piloted by U.S. personnel and, by law, required authorization from this Senate. […] We cannot renounce our duty when it comes to defending our sovereignty.”
Originally published on Latin Times
