Mexico’s Drug War Is Taking a Turn for the Worse
A breakdown in U.S.-Mexican security cooperation threatens citizens on both sides of the border.
Mexico can’t defeat the cartels on its own.
Photographer: Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images
President Joe Biden’s immediate foreign-policy priority is to repair America’s damaged relationships with international partners. He can start by addressing the breakdown in security cooperation between the U.S. and its southern neighbor, Mexico.
In addition to being one of America’s largest trading partners, Mexico is the biggest foreign source of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking into the U.S. The two countries share an interest in curbing the power of Mexico’s drug cartels, but actions taken in the last month by the Mexican government would do the opposite — endangering citizens on both sides of the border in the process.