U.S. Undersecretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs Brian A. Nichols. Photo: U.S. State Department

PULSE NEWS MEXICO

After Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) threatened earlier this week to meddle in the U.S. 2024 elections by encouraging dual citizens in that country to not vote for Republican candidates, the United States on Thursday, March 16, issued a stern call to the Mexican head of state to “respect its sovereignty” and not try to interfere in its internal affairs.

During a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs Brian A. Nichols, said that “just as we respect the sovereignty of Mexico, we ask that President López Obrador to respect American sovereignty.”

On Wednesday, March 15, AMLO said that he would launch an “information campaign” in the U.S. against Republicans, telling Mexicans and Hispanics not to vote for them unless U.S. lawmakers change their treatment of Mexico.

“Starting today, we are going to start an information campaign for Mexicans who live and work in the United States and for all Hispanics to inform them of what we are doing in Mexico and how this initiative by the Republicans, in addition to being irresponsible, is an offense against the people of Mexico, a lack of respect for our independence, our sovereignty,” López Obrador said.

“And if they do not change their attitude and think that they are going to use Mexico for their propaganda, electoral and political purposes, we are going to call for them not to vote for that party, because it is interventionist, inhumane, hypocritical and corrupt.”

This, Nichols said, constituted a threat to meddle in the U.S. electoral process.

Nichols also took the opportunity to contradict López Obrador, who has repeatedly insisted that “fentanyl is not produced in Mexico.”

“Mexico receives chemical precursors from all over the world,” Nichols said.

“These precursors are used to produce fentanyl.”

AMLO got this dander up against the United States when a group of Republican lawmakers (which were later followed by several Democratic congressmen) proposed declaring Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups because they are responsible for exporting fentanyl to the United States, where last year more than 60,000 people died from the drug.