By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Worthy News) – Mexico’s president unveiled constitutional reforms Thursday amid concerns over possible American military intervention in her country after U.S. President Donald J. Trump designated six Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist” organizations.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that the “Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of the nation.”
On Thursday, the designation of eight Latin America-based criminal organizations was published in the U.S. Federal Register, carrying out a January 20 executive order by Trump.
The list includes Sinaloa, Jalisco, Zetas, Gulf Cartels, Cartel Unidos, and “La Nueva Familia Michoacana.” Other criminal entities — including the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua and the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13 — were also named.
The U.S. hopes the designation, something usually reserved for terrorist groups with political rather than economic objectives, will increase pressure on the groups.
However, Sheinbaum said in comments monitored by Worthy News that she would not accept foreign interference in Mexico’s ongoing battle against drug cartels.
LIMITING ‘FOREIGN AGENTS’
The president seeks to enshrine current limits on the operations of “foreign agents” into the constitution and establish harsher penalties for gun trafficking.
“What we want to make clear in the face of this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty,” she warned.
Sheinbaum said Mexico was not consulted when the Trump administration designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Terrorist designations against criminal syndicates have sparked debates over national sovereignty and whether such moves could justify extended actions by the U.S. government abroad.
Observers noted that tensions between the two neighbors could escalate if Washington believes it now has broader authority to operate against any cartel activity in Mexican territory.
It is also part of Trump’s plan to crack down on “illegal migration.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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Mexico’s president unveiled constitutional reforms Thursday amid concerns over possible American military intervention in her country after U.S. President Donald J. Trump designated six Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist” organizations.