Mexico City — The Mexican government on Tuesday expressed protest over the number of its citizens killed in US custody. President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against US President Donald Trump Policies on multiple fronts.
The progressive Mexican leader has worked cautiously with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations in a measured tone and acquiescing to U.S. requests to crack down on criminal cartels more than his predecessors, in an effort to compensate. Tariff threats and US military action against gangs.
But in view of Increasing deaths of Mexican citizens in the custody of immigration officials And the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba – a key Mexican ally – has Sheinbaum taking a tough stance.
“We’ve seen the president raise his voice,” said Palmira Tapia, an analyst at Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “There has been a change, and we’ve seen Sheinbaum become more vocal than before.”
Sheinbaum’s latest rebuke came Tuesday, a day after 49-year-old Mexican citizen Alejandro Cabrera Clemente died in a Louisiana detention center for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, the fifteenth death of a Mexican citizen in U.S. custody in less than a year.
Mexico’s government immediately called the deaths “unacceptable” and the ICE detention centers “incompatible with human rights standards and protection of life.”
The next morning, during a press briefing Sheinbaum said that he had requested an investigation into the deaths of 15 migrants but received no response and he instructed Mexican consuls to visit the detention centers daily.
“We’re going to protect Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said, “There are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers.”
His government has already said it will file a legal brief supporting a lawsuit by detainees over poor conditions in detention centers and will raise the issue of the detainees’ deaths with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. On Tuesday he said his government was also considering appealing to the United Nations.
The move by Sheinbaum’s government comes after growing disapproval in the US over Trump’s immigration enforcement. Nearly 6 in 10 American adults say Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents to US cities, according to a February AP-NORC poll. voting.
“The growing discontent around ICE activities in the United States creates a more comfortable platform for members of the Mexican government to raise concerns about the fate of Mexican citizens,” said Carin Zissis, Washington interim director of the Council of America.
Sheinbaum describes Trump as “cool-headed” towards provocations, who has put more pressure on Latin America than any US leader in decades. Within months, the Trump administration ousted Venezuela’s president, imposed oil blockade on Cuba And threatened military intervention Against the Mexican cartels.
He will have to balance maintaining a strong relationship with Trump while repeatedly asserting Mexico’s sovereignty while appeasing his base. His measured responses resemble those of a lawyer rather than the head of Mexico’s most powerful populist political movement.
His government has taken a tougher crackdown on cartels than his predecessor and has deported dozens of cartel members to the US. Meanwhile, Mexican economic officials have regularly traveled to Washington to strengthen ties ahead of renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, a free trade agreement.
While Trump has publicly taken digs at Sheinbaum – at one point suggesting that the cartel has more control over Mexico than his government – he has also regularly nod to their cordial relationship.
“She’s a really nice person, I like her a lot,” he said last month in a high-pitched imitation of the Mexican leader.
But changing geopolitics in the region and rising deaths at ICE facilities have also opened the door for Sheinbaum to take a tough stance.
The main point of contention between the two governments has been Cuba. Solidarity with the American rival has been a cornerstone of Mexico’s political ethos since the Cuban Revolution, which was planned by Fidel Castro, Ernesto “Che” Guevara and a group of exiles while living in Mexico City. This is a particular point of connection with his progressive Murray Party, whose founder propelled Sheinbaum into office.
The relationship hit a halt in late January, when Trump announced that he would Impose tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba. This move had a direct impact on Mexico, which has been sending oil to Cuba for years.
While Sheinbaum reluctantly Oil shipments to Cuba stoppedHe has continued to challenge the Trump administration’s pressure for regime change.
“Mexico has every right to send fuel, whether it’s for humanitarian or commercial reasons,” Sheinbaum said earlier this week. He said the government has moved cautiously because it does not want Mexico to be harmed by the tariffs.
He has described Trump’s energy blockade of Cuba as “unjust” and accused the US government of “strangling” the Cuban people with sanctions. mexican leader has sent consignments of food and other aidand even donated $1,000 of his own money to relief efforts as a symbolic gesture.
Tapia said, “For them, the defense of Cuba also means the defense of Mexico.”
Still, the Mexican leader’s moves have raised eyebrows in Washington.
Sheinbaum recently announced that his country Cuban doctors will continue to work in the countryOther countries in Central America and the Caribbean have ended their programs in the face of US pressure.
It faced indirect threats from the Trump administration, pointing to visa restrictions imposed on Central American officials, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called a “forced labor scheme”.
The White House had no comment Tuesday about Sheinbaum’s tough stance, nor on the rising number of deaths of Mexican citizens in ICE custody.
Zissis said Sheinbaum’s recent bold tone suggests his administration can hold back on some politically important fronts, as long as they are making progress in strengthening trade and meeting the Trump administration’s requests on security and migration.
At the same time, rising energy prices because of the Iran war have made the U.S. more dependent on allies in Mexico, he and other analysts said, prompting Washington to step back from any drastic steps against Mexican cartels or Cuba, at least in the short term.
He said, “We are in a moment where, because of global events, we are facing various economic uncertainties. This gives more reason for the US and Mexico to work together.”
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Associated Press journalist Will Weissert contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
