This article by Miguel Ángel Velázquez originally appeared in the January 19, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper. The views expressed in this article are the authors’* own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project.*
Last week, we were talking with you about the Trump administration’s intentions toward our country, and we warned that an invasion seemed like a very distant possibility, but not impossible, because anything can happen in the mind of Agent Orange. But what is on the table for discussion, we can now confirm, is the intervention of one of that country’s agencies in our national territory under the pretext of the fight against drugs.
Days later, at the end of last week, The New York Times informed us that pressure on Mexico to allow agents into our territory has increased and the threats are becoming more forceful every day.
According to the newspaper, which confirms our suspicions, agencies like the CIA are ready to “accompany” national operations with their personnel, but does Trump really want to combat drug trafficking, or is his intention to manage and even manipulate certain aspects of national life? The latter seems to be his intention.
Under both Calderón and Peña Nieto, DEA agents ran drug trafficking operations with impunity, without notifying Mexican authorities and always politicizing the illicit activities they orchestrated. Meanwhile, drugs flowed freely and with impunity over Mexico.
DEA agents, CIA spies, hawkish diplomats, a whole network that intends to work on Mexico so that the country’s political affairs are shaped from Washington, where the discrediting – undermining work of that same network – of those who govern and those who make laws is of such magnitude that only the word of the gringo agencies can give meaning to daily life.
An example of how attempts were made to discredit the country’s political work occurred in the first decade of this century, when Andrés Manuel López Obrador was accused—the DEA opened a case on the matter—of having financed his campaign with drug money. They were never able to produce any evidence to support this claim.
During the Calderón and Peña administrations, DEA agents increased their presence in the country – from 54 to 70, and the supposed “administrative technicians” also grew in size, from 32 to 41 –; in total, a large group that had the help of those in our country who collaborate with them regardless of the betrayal.
Regaining control not only of drug trafficking but also of the most significant events in the country’s political life is surely part of the plan Trump seeks to impose in Mexico, and to that end he pressures, threatens and blackmails, something that is understood in the Zócalo.
The biggest problem is that –as it is known throughout the world– the current President of the United States is capable of pressing the button at any moment, unless from within, from the streets, cities and towns of that country, we insist the monster that can press the button is stopped.
For now, a coalition of unions and community organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul have called for a general strike on Friday the 23rd, a movement they have dubbed “a day of truth and freedom” in which, they affirm, “we will not go to work, school, or shop; we will block everything.” The movement could become the resistance many are hoping for. Let’s hope it’s the beginning of the end.
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Trump’s Pressure on Mexico & The Drugs Pretext
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Agencies like the CIA are ready to “accompany” Mexican operations, but does Trump really want to combat drug trafficking, or is his intention to manage & manipulate Mexico?
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Our country cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, such as when Latin American unity was rejected or when it disregarded Cuban and Venezuela initiatives to connect with labor and educational forces, along with their proposals and warnings.
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