Sheinbaum seeks narrow diplomatic path after U.S. strike in Venezuela and Trump threats

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico has been trying to thread a narrow diplomatic needle after the U.S. strike in Venezuela and direct warnings from President Trump that the United States would "start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels," a remark he made in a Fox News interview, according to the report.

Mexican officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they had long treated Mr. Trump’s threats to intervene against drug cartels as bluster but were alarmed by the capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and the U.S. action. Ms. Sheinbaum has publicly rejected U.S.

military intervention while avoiding language likely to provoke the White House; after the strike she posted a passage from the U.N. charter and the White House responded with a clip of Mr. Trump saying she was "a good woman, but the cartels are running Mexico." She instructed the foreign minister to speak with his U.S.

counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the president said. Officials point to an indictment of Mr. Maduro that mentions Mexico 25 times and accuses him of partnering with traffickers including the Sinaloa Cartel, and Ms. Sheinbaum has acknowledged that U.S. designations of fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction and cartels as terrorist organizations may give the administration "more elements" to justify action.

Key Topics

World, Claudia Sheinbaum, Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, Sinaloa Cartel, Marco Rubio