“Trump’s drug war whiplash could undermine progress in Mexico,” written by Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations, was published in The Hill. Following is an excerpt:

The switch to Venezuela was a surprise to those of us studying drug trafficking: Fentanyl from Mexico is the leading cause for overdose deaths in the U.S. Drugs trafficked through and from Venezuela are not synthetic opioids, but cocaine shipped to West Africa and Europe, with very little making its way to the U.S. Fentanyl, not cocaine, is the leading contributor to U.S. overdose deaths. 

The through-line between drug trafficking and a rationale for U.S. military action in Venezuela is weak—so weak, in fact, that a group of bipartisan senators, including Rand Paul (R-Ky.), are mobilizing against Trump unilaterally declaring war on Nicolás Maduro’s regime.  

Additionally, faced with threatened tariffs that would undermine Mexico’s economy, President Claudia Sheinbaum opted to appease Trump. Since February, she has sent 55 drug traffickers to the United States for prosecution, sidestepping onerous extradition processes, and ordered security forces to take down several large fentanyl production laboratories. 

Despite these concessions and the threat to Mexico’s political stability, Trump continues to talk about invading Mexico.