'Coordination, not subordination': Sheinbaum attacks U.S. 'meddling' in Mexico's politics

‘Coordination, not subordination’: Sheinbaum attacks U.S. ‘meddling’ in Mexico’s politics - Click here to listen to this article - Share via See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum made her strongest comments yet about the Trump administration’s efforts to influence Mexico. - ‘I always look for the best relations possible with the United States. Always. ... But I’m not going to bow my head, either,’ she said. - Sheinbaum’s comments came after the U.S. revoked the visa of the son of her predecessor and mentor, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday vented long-simmering frustrations with the Trump administration, accusing Washington of “meddling” after the State Department revoked the visa of the son of her predecessor and mentor, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The Mexican leader denounced as “political” an ongoing series of U.S. visa cancellations targeting prominent figures in her ruling Morena bloc, including at least one state governor — and, now, the former president’s son, a Morena bigwig viewed as a possible future presidential candidate. “These are attempts to interfere, to meddle in Mexican politics,” Sheinbaum said at her regular morning news conference. “I always look for the best relations possible with the United States. Always. ... But I’m not going to bow my head, either. It’s not a personal question. It’s a matter of defending the homeland.” The comments were the strongest criticisms to date of the White House from Sheinbaum, a leftist who — despite her political divergence from U.S. policies in Latin America and elsewhere — has boasted of her intention to keep a nonconfrontational “cool head” even while clashing with the White House on binational security, the economy and immigration. What Mexican politician is going to bow, to kneel, in front of the United States? — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum But it’s Sheinbaum’s steadfast resistance to direct U.S. involvement in anti-cartel activities in Mexico that has riled Trump, who has both lauded Sheinbaum as a “wonderful woman” and charged that she is “so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight.” Sheinbaum’s latest comments come at a moment when the Trump administration has been openly courting right-wing governments in Latin America — from Argentina to Colombia to Honduras — and pushing regional leaders to cooperate in U.S. military efforts to thwart drug-trafficking. “Coordination, not subordination,” Sheinbaum said Friday, reiterating a motto emphasizing that Mexico will not relinquish its sovereignty in response to U.S. pressure. Friday’s outburst indicates that Sheinbaum’s much-acclaimed patience with her northern neighbor may be wearing thin, especially if she views U.S. actions as undermining her ruling Morena political bloc, founded by her predecessor, López Obrador. The leader of at least one Mexican opposition political party has called on Washington to cancel the visas of Morena officials, labeling them servants of a “narco-government.” Sheinbaum has dismissed the requests as “laughable” and regularly denies any links between her government and cartels. “What Mexican politician is going to bow, to kneel, in front of the United States?” Sheinbaum asked on Friday. Sparking Sheinbaum’s blow-up was the revelation late Thursday that Washington had rescinded the visa of Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, widely known as “Andy.” U.S. officials offered no public explanation for the cancellation. López Beltrán, who stepped down from the No. 2 position in Morena to run for Congress — a possible launching pad for a future run at the presidency — has denied any link to organized crime. In a blistering letter addressed to Trump, López Beltrán condemned the cancellation as “political and propagandist,” “arrogant” and “hitlerite.” The visa revocation, he asserted, was a U.S. effort to smear the political movement founded by his father, who remains a behind-the-scenes power broker. While excoriating the loss of his visa, López Beltrán also painted a dystopian picture of present-day life north of the border. “It causes me no problem to not visit the United States during these decadent and lamentable times of hatred, racism, drug-addiction, family disintegration, social discontent and sadness,” he wrote. The scion of his father’s political legacy compared Trump’s leadership unfavorably with the tenures of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt — “those giants of liberty who treated Mexico and its people with authentic friendship and respect for sovereignty.” There was no immediate comment from the State Department or White House on the broadsides from Sheinbaum and López Beltrán. Under Trump, the State Department has been actively canceling visas of government officials and others viewed as deleterious to U.S. interests — and not only officials from Mexico, but also from Brazil and other nations. Christopher Landau, a former ambassador to Mexico who now sits as principal deputy to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has boasted on X of being El Quitavisas, or “The Visa Canceler.” Several sitting Mexican governors have reportedly been stripped of U.S. visas, but only one — Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, governor of Baja California and a Morena stalwart — has publicly acknowledged losing her visa rights. She has denied any wrongdoing. Beyond barring U.S. access, loss of a visa is widely viewed as raising suspicions about a politician’s character — a major reason, observers say, why few Mexican lawmakers acknowledge being stripped of visas. U.S. diplomats have broad authority to cancel visas without providing explanations to affected foreign citizens. Factors that may contribute to loss of visas include criminal activity, past immigration violations and national security concerns. The contretemps about the visa scandal pushed #Andy — López Beltrán’s nickname — to the top of social media sites in Mexico, drawing both praise and derision. “The badly written letter of Andrés López Beltrán doesn’t transmit indignation,” wrote Denise Dresser, a columnist and frequent Sheinbaum administration critic. “It’s transmits panic.” Sheinbaum faces escalating pressure from the Trump administration not only to crack down on cartels — deemed “foreign terrorist organizations” by the White House — but to prosecute corrupt government officials that Washington views as linked to organized crime. Sheinbaum’s government has rebuffed U.S. demands to arrest Rubén Rocha Moya — the governor of Sinaloa state and a close ally of López Obrador — after federal prosecutors in New York indicted him and other state lawmakers this spring on charges of collaborating with the Sinaloa cartel. According to Sheinbaum, U.S. authorities have not provided their Mexican counterparts with sufficient evidence to warrant the governor’s detention or extradition to the United States. Rocha Moya has denied the charges but stepped down temporarily from the governor’s post. “We don’t cover up for anyone,” Sheinbaum said Friday, repeating her frequent assertion that no one in Mexico — even ruling-party officials — is above the law. Special corrrespondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.