Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Jan. 12 that she had a productive dialogue with President Donald Trump on efforts to combat drug trafficking and other issues of mutual concern.
“We had a very good conversation with the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X on Monday.
“We discussed various topics, including security, with respect for our sovereignty, reducing drug trafficking, trade, and investment. Collaboration and cooperation within a framework of mutual respect always yield results.”
As The Epoch Times’ Ryan Morgan reports, the conversation between the two heads of state comes as Trump has raised pressure on Mexico and other Latin American states to increase cooperation with the United States, particularly in efforts to curb drug trafficking.
After U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a pre-dawn raid on Jan. 3, Trump said Mexico needs to “get its act together” when dealing with drug cartels and reiterated offers to send U.S. forces to assist in such efforts.
On Jan. 8, Trump raised the stakes further, suggesting U.S. military strikes could focus on land-based cartel targets in Mexico in the future.
Thus far, Sheinbaum has been opposed to U.S. military action in Mexico.
Speaking with reporters at a Monday press conference, Sheinbaum said she and Trump again discussed a U.S. force deployment to Mexico and said Trump was understanding as she reiterated her opposition to such a move.
“He didn’t insist either; rather, it was in the tone of, ‘If you want us to help you more with our forces in Mexico,’ I told him, ‘Well, no, I’ve already told you several times that that’s not on the table,’ but we continue to collaborate within the framework of our sovereignties,” Sheinbaum recounted of the conversation.
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment on the call between Trump and Sheinbaum but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a separate call with Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente on Jan. 11.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the two discussed “the need for stronger cooperation to dismantle Mexico’s violent narcoterrorist networks and stop the trafficking of fentanyl and weapons.”
“Secretary Rubio reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to stopping narcoterrorism and stressed the need for tangible results to protect our homeland and hemisphere.”
Colombia and Cuba also face increased pressure from a Trump administration emboldened by the Maduro raid.
Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have traded barbs in recent weeks, with the U.S. president faulting his Colombian counterpart for not cooperating closely enough on efforts to stamp out Colombia’s cocaine production.
Last week, Trump reported a productive phone conversation with Petro and indicated plans to host him at the White House in the near future.
U.S. pressure on Cuba remains high.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, said he had cut Cuba off from Venezuela’s oil supply.
“There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba—zero! I strongly suggest they make a deal, before it is too late,” Trump wrote in mostly all caps.
The United States has limited its engagement with the Cuban leadership for decades, after the Caribbean island nation came under communist control following Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
In a press statement following Trump’s latest comments, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said U.S.-Cuba relations “must be based on International Law rather than on hostility, threats, and economic coercion.”
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