Trump’s Max Pressure On Mexican Standoff

If US has “Mexico on the ropes” as a Fox News op ed suggests, I have an oasis in the Sonoran Desert to sell the author. Great that Mexico has finally handed over 29-jailed cartel leaders to US for prosecution here, but how about the 100K other roaming bad hombres?

Not that the author Joshua Trevino isn’t right about President Trump having “taken an accurate measure of the Mexican regime” & applied max economic pressure on it so that the long-demanded prisoner handover to DEA & DOJ finally happened. But, even Trevino concedes,” What remains is to put [Trump’s] vision into action.” Translated: The 29 cartel leaders in Mexican prisons but now in US custody is the proverbial “Pimple on the Burrow’s Hind End.” The sad truth is, the Mexican presidents have long-since turned Mexico into a leftist one-party state that’s either been bought or intimidated by the country’s narco leaders so the cartels basically call the shots for their benefit & from coast to coast.

Trevino also argues “Donald Trump” is the game changer thanks to his willingness to impose (or threaten to impose) crippling tariffs & other sanctions on Mexico that has “manifestly exerted tremendous effect upon Mexican officialdom’s thinking,” bribes notwithstanding. Perhaps he’s correct that the one thing the Mexican ruling class can’t stomach is a collapse of its fragile economy, which would make the wetting of their own beaks intolerable. He’s also probably right in warning Trump to play a long game in its maximum pressure campaign & not to be fooled by a Mexican waiting game designed to distract America until it goes on to another crisis ... and we get the same old cartel same old.

Davd Soul