Ted Cruz urges Mexico to follow El Salvador's harsh crackdown on cartels

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Friday that Mexico should take a page out of El Salvador's book in cracking down on drug cartels, and take the United States up on an offer to help combat organized crime.

The Republican senator from from Texas, who stopped in Mexico after visiting Panama and El Salvador this week, appeared to imply that the U.S. could take some actions against drug cartels on its own if Mexico declines joint action.

“It would be far preferable for it to be cooperative, and so my hope is the government of Mexico will recognize that defeating these cartels is overwhelmingly in the interest of the citizens of Mexico,” Cruz told a news conference. “My message to the government of Mexico is accept our offer as a friend.”

Cruz did not respond when asked to elaborate on the offer, which he mentioned multiple times during the news conference.

Cruz's suggestion and earlier offers by U.S. President Donald Trump of U.S. military intervention have heightened Mexico's sensitivity over its sovereignty.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum flatly rejected Trump's offer earlier this year to send U.S. troops to fight the cartels, which his administration declared as foreign terrorist organizations.

“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with their military,” Sheinbaum said earlier this month. “We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. It’s off the table, absolutely off the table.”

There has been evidence of collaboration. Earlier this month, the Mexican government confirmed that it had requested assistance from a U.S. government drone in an organized crime investigation in central Mexico.

Cruz said he met with Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente and other officials, speaking largely on security and migration issues.

“During this dialogue, it was emphasized that Mexico's relationship with the U.S.A. is based permanently on the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, full respect of our sovereignty and cooperation without subordination,” Mexico's foreign affairs ministry said later on X.

Facing tariff threats by the Trump administration, Sheinbaum has been more aggressive than her predecessor in going after Mexican cartels. This month her administration sent dozens of cartel leaders to the U.S. And Mexico has long worked with the U.S. to slow the flow of migration north, contributing to extremely low numbers of illegal crossings.

Despite that, cartel violence has continued to plague Mexico. Cruz on Friday suggested that Mexico should take a more heavy-handed approach to criminal violence as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has done.

The Salvadoran populist has suspended key constitutional rights and imprisoned more than 1% of his country's population to beat back the country's gangs.

The approach has fueled accusations that Bukele is violating human rights and putting at risk El Salvador's democracy, but the drop in crime has made the president extremely popular at home and turned him into a sort of folk hero for the American right-wing.