US Congressman Fights Back on Calls To Invade Mexico Over Fentanyl Problem

Republicans want to stop fentanyl being smuggled across the US-Mexico border by bombing Mexico. However, Texas Representative Joaquin Castro is having none of it.

Conservatives are calling for an invasion of Mexico, which would constitute war against a US ally, but the Texas Democrat says he will be filing a resolution in the US House to combat this. The resolution will reaffirm the US federal government's "commitment to respecting the sovereignty of Mexico and condemning calls for military action without Mexico's consent and congressional authorization."

The Guardian received a copy of Joaquin Castro's measure, which came after US Senator John Kennedy urged that the US send troops to Mexico to combat the various drug cartels. The controversial senator managed to insult Mexicans with racist remarks by saying they "would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent behind an Outback" steakhouse restaurant if it were not for their proximity to the US.

Mexico's top leaders condemned Kennedy's comments, though other conservative leaders in the US are echoing his sentiment, including Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy. They said sending troops to Mexico would "wipe out drug lords if given the chance."

Joaquin Castro's resolution will assert that the US and Mexico "have cooperated for several decades on a variety of issues such as trade, investment, counter-narcotics, migration, rule of law and security, including through recent high-level security and economic dialogues."

"War with Mexico would cause devastating loss of life and would be disastrous for millions of Mexicans and Americans living in Mexico, as well as those in the US whose livelihoods depend on legitimate cross-border trade," said the Texas congressman. "This resolution sends a strong message that the United States respects Mexico's sovereignty and that Congress does not support dangerous calls for war at our southern border."

Republicans Just Doing Macho Posturing By Suggesting To Invade Mexico

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has written a scathing op-ed on the idea of US troops crossing the US-Mexico border to fight drug cartels. Simply put, they do not think this would be a good idea either.

The opinion piece by Max Boot pointed out that while the same Republicans are reluctant to help Ukraine because the US may be drawn into a war against Russia, these same politicians "appear eager to draw the United States into a bloody war with our southern neighbor."

Several Republican candidates floated the idea during the latest Republican debate, though their ideas do not seem to outdo Donald Trump's. When he was president, he actually wanted to launch missiles at Mexican drug labs, thereby disrespecting Mexico's sovereignty and possibly drawing the US into a war with its own ally.

William LeoGrande, a scholar of Latin American politics at American University, however, noted that "Republican threats to launch military strikes in Mexico are nothing but macho posturing." He also pointed out that Republicans have "learned nothing from two decades of experience in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Other Republicans Warn Against Invading Mexico Over Fentanyl

It's not just columnists and Democrats who are blasting the idea, but security experts too, as Trump's own National Security Adviser, John Bolten, warned that this would be bad and that unilateral military operations "are not going to solve the problem" of fentanyl coming across the US-Mexico border.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul, a Texas Republican, also has his own concerns as this would make more refugees. He says he has "concerns about the immigration implications and the bilateral relationship with Mexico."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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