Paula Perro

BREAKING: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has released the following video condemning Trump's tariffs and her plan for retaliation -- translated into English (subtitle translation is a bit rough). This comes after she released the following written explanation: "As Juarez said: Nothing by force; everything by reason and right. Between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of others is peace. We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Government of Mexico, accusing it of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any interventionist intentions in our territory. If there is any such alliance, it exists in U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups, as demonstrated by the U.S. Department of Justice in January of this year. Our government has seized more than 40 tons of drugs in four months, including 20 million doses of fentanyl. We have also arrested more than ten thousand people linked to these groups. If the U.S. government and its agencies want to address the serious fentanyl consumption problem in their country, they could, for example, combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their major cities—something they do not do—as well as the money laundering generated by this illegal activity, which has caused significant harm to their population. They could also launch a massive campaign to prevent drug consumption and protect their youth, as we have done in Mexico. Drug consumption and distribution occur in their own country, and that is a public health problem they have not addressed. Moreover, the synthetic opioid epidemic in the United States originates from the indiscriminate prescription of these medications, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as demonstrated by the legal case against a pharmaceutical company. Mexico does not seek confrontation. We believe in collaboration between neighboring countries. Mexico does not want fentanyl to reach the United States—or anywhere else. Therefore, if the United States truly wants to combat the criminal groups that traffic drugs and fuel violence, we must work together in a comprehensive manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and, above all, respect for sovereignty—which is non-negotiable. Coordination, yes; subordination, no. For this reason, I propose to President Trump that we establish a working group with our best security and public health teams. Tariffs will not solve these problems. Instead, we must talk and negotiate, just as we have in recent weeks with the U.S. State Department to address migration, always respecting human rights on our side. The graph that President Trump has been posting on his social media, showing a decline in migration, was created by my team, which has been in constant communication with his. I am instructing the Secretary of Economy to implement Plan B, which we have been preparing, including tariff and non-tariff measures to defend Mexico’s interests. Nothing by force; everything through reason and law."