One of the more surprising foreign policy ideas the Trump team has proposed on the eve of its ascension to power is military intervention in Mexico to go after drug cartels and possibly stop migrants headed to the United States.
The idea seemed so wild and provocative — siccing U.S. troops on a peaceful neighbor — that Mexican officials figured it was nothing more than Trump bluster aimed at revving up his base.
But now President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Ronald D. Johnson to serve as ambassador to Mexico has them wondering if he is serious.
Johnson is both a former U.S. military officer — a Green Beret — and a former CIA official. In his previous post as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Johnson was an enthusiastic enforcer of Trump’s policies in support of its president, Nayib Bukele, an authoritarian widely accused of human rights abuses in a massive crackdown on gangs and in silencing dissent.
Trump has already threatened Mexico with 25% tariffs on many of its exports to the U.S. — including tomatoes, avocados, tequila, and car parts — if the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum does not “do more” to stop the entry of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S. over its southern border with Mexico.
Many economists say such an action would not only blow up prices for U.S. consumers but also probably send the Mexican economy into a free fall, which in turn could spur more migration to the United States.
“Mexico can expect enormous pressure,” Maureen Meyer, programs vice president at the Washington Office on Latin America, said in an interview. The focus will be almost exclusively on immigration and law enforcement, she predicted, while “issues of concern to the human rights community — reproductive rights, climate, democracy — will all take a step back.”
She and others said that will probably be true across Latin America as a Trump government fortifies common cause with right-wing governments and parties in Argentina, Brazil, and elsewhere, but will have the most impact in Mexico because of its 2,000-mile border with the United States and its close economic and cultural ties.
Johnson, not to be confused with the Republican Wisconsin senator of the same name, has resided in Florida since stepping down as ambassador to El Salvador at the end of the first Trump administration. He is an Alabama native, married with four grown children and five grandchildren, and spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of his CIA duties. He also worked on counter-insurgency operations during El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s, when the U.S. supported the right-wing government against leftist guerrillas.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY Tracy Wilkinson, Kate Linthicum ON THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
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