Mexican President: War on Cartels Not An Option

Going to war with cartels is not an option, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday following the massacre that killed nine American tourists, Breitbart reported.

“War is the most irrational thing there can be and that is not going to be an option,” Lopez Obrador said.

Responding to criticism over his policy, Lopez Obrador said he respects the opinion of doubters but does not share it.

“We are taking a different approach,” he said. Going to war “was tried for 36 years and it failed. We are going to prove that our approach works.”

Following the massacre - whose victims were three women and six children, all American citizens - President Donald Trump offered Lopez Obrador any needed resources “to wage war” against cartels.

Lopez Obrador thanked Trump for the offer and also “thanked him for being respectful of our sovereignty.”

But the Financial Times pointed out that the Mexican president may not be able to hold on to this policy for much longer.

The massacre came just three weeks after Mexico botched the arrest of one of the sons of jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The capture, then release, of Ovidio Guzmán last month turned into a fiasco as the Sinaloa Cartel laid siege to the state capital of Culiacán for hours, despite the efforts of Mexican security forces, according to the Financial Times.

In the aftermath of these recent events, there are signs that the public is beginning to doubt that Lopez Obrador’s approach can reduce the violence

• 9 American Women and Children Slaughtered by Mexican Drug Cartel Gunmen
• Failed Mission Raises Doubts about Mexican Security Strategy