Donald Trump's promised war on drug cartels will stop Mexico from becoming a "narco state," US Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday, as he hinted that Washington remained ready to take military action against the gangs.
Speaking at the US southern border, Vance said the administration's focus on stamping out illegal immigration and on designating gangs as terrorist organizations was aimed primarily at stemming the flow of drugs into the United States.
But, he said: "I actually think he's doing a huge favor to the people of Mexico, because if they don't get control of these cartels, the people of Mexico are going to wake up in a narco state where the cartels have more power than their own government."
Vance's comments came after Trump used a joint session of Congress to rail against what he called the "open border" policies of former president Joe Biden, and issued a blood-curdling warning over criminal gangs operating in Mexico.
"The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control," Trump told Congress on Tuesday.
"They have total control over a whole nation. Posing a grave threat to our national security.
"The cartels are waging war in America, and it's time for America to wage war on the cartels."
Vance, the most senior figure in Trump's administration to visit the border, said there was no talk of US military forces crossing into Mexico to tackle the gangs, which he said were now classified alongside the so-called Islamic State group as "terrorists."
But he left the door open.
"I'm not going to make any announcements about any invasions of Mexico here today," he said.
"The President has a megaphone, and of course, he'll speak to... these issues as he feels necessary."
The administration would rather that Mexico dealt with the issue, he said.
"We want the Mexican government to help itself, but also in the process, to help the American people. It's going to destabilize the entire country of Mexico, the entire government, if they don't take it more seriously," he said.
"We're hopeful that they will, and if they don't, then of course, we'll figure out what to do from there."
Vance was speaking in Eagle Pass, a major crossing point between Mexico and the United States, where he had travelled with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Hegseth, who last week authorized the deployment of 3,000 troops to the southern border, hailed a whole-of-government approach to stemming illegal immigration, which he said had reduced unauthorized crossings in the area from 1,500 a day to 30.
"It's incredible to hear from our partners about what we've been able to allow them to do, facilitate them, and we've seen it in the numbers, 98 percent drop in crossings on the southern border," he said, without giving a time frame.
Illegal border crossings decreased for many months before Trump took office, official figures show.
And, he promised, more resources were on their way.
"The Defense Department has assets that we can bring to bear, not just troops, not just surveillance, not just equipment, but actual planning and capabilities that enhance what Border Patrol is already doing," he said.
Trump campaigned heavily on stemming migration into the US, an issue that proved popular with anxious voters.
He continues to claim that migrants are responsible for the majority of criminality in the country, despite evidence that the US-born population commits far more crimes per capita.
With AFP
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