(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – Mexico’s president, populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, slammed the United States for travel advisories after four Americans were recently kidnapped and two killed by a Mexican drug cartel.
López Obrador, also known by the acronym “AMLO,” of the populist MORENO party, claimed that Mexico is “safer” than the United States.
In the recent case in early March, four Americans were abducted after traveling in the Mexican border city of Matamoros.
Two of them and a Mexican bystander died when they were attacked by shooters, reportedly from the Gulf cartel.
Last year, a US State Department advisory warned about safety threats for Americans traveling to Mexico.
“Violent crime — such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery — is widespread and common in Mexico,” the advisory said.
At the end of last week, the authorities of Texas also issued a statement warning Americans traveling to Mexico.
“Drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat to anyone who crosses into Mexico right now,” the state of Texas said.
Currently, the US State Department has “do not travel” advisories for six of Mexico’s 32 states.
In his press briefing on Monday, Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador criticized the warnings by the US authorities.
“Mexico is safer than the United States. There is no issue with traveling safely through Mexico. That’s something the US citizens also know, just like our fellow Mexicans that live in the US,” he declared.
“US government alerts say that it’s safe to only travel [in the states of] Campeche and Yucatan,” the Mexican leader said, as cited by CNN and Newsmax.
“If that were the case, so many Americans wouldn’t be coming in to live in Mexico City and the rest of the country. In the past few years is when more Americans have come to live in Mexico. So, what’s happening? Why the paranoia?” AMLO asked.
He also claimed that the warnings that a drug cartel-ridden Mexico was not safe came from conservatives in the United States who wanted to prevent the development of his nation.
“[There is] a campaign against Mexico from conservative US politicians that don’t want this country to keep developing for the good of the Mexican people,” the Mexican president alleged.
AMLO also reacted to remarks by Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, who said he would introduce legislation to declare Mexican drug cartels terrorist organizations and authorize US military action against them.
According to López Obrador, Graham’s idea is an “offense to the people of Mexico” and a “lack of respect for our independence.”
“We are not a protectorate of the United States or a colony of the United States. Mexico is a free, independent, sovereign country. We don’t take orders from anyone,” the Mexican president declared.
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