Mexico City, Mexico — Resolving insecurity in Mexico is even more important than T-MEC says U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar. He made the comment after a weekend of violent activity in several of Mexico’s states which lead to a travel warning from the United States.
At a press conference, the diplomat stressed the importance of resolving the violence in Mexico since insecurity discourages investment. “This security thing is more fundamental than other issues of concern that are difficult, including the T-MEC,” he said. “If we don’t have security results, everything continues to shake.”
His concerns were expressed after a wave of violence in Baja California, Guanajuato and Jalisco over the weekend. For at least two days, there were attacks against civilians and clashes between criminal gang members and police.
The US ambassador said that they were not acts of terrorism, but rather the product of insecurity, which has serious consequences. The U.S. diplomat endorsed that the government of American President Joe Biden is interested in collaborating with Mexico at different levels to resolve the violence, for which he called on the states to send him their security plans since the U.S. can support them financially.
“We are here with the direction of Biden, always with respect for the Mexican government, but we do have interest and resources to support state governments and also at the level of the Republic,” he said. “The resources are there. I ask the states to give us their plans.”
Salazar reported that as of Wednesday, the U.S State Department issued travel alerts for the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.
“When you see the capital, Mexico City is safe, but when you see these states in red or orange, there are problems, there are six states where we, the United States, tell you that you should not travel,” he explained.
Acts of violence, such as those that occurred in Chihuahua, Baja California, Jalisco and Guanajuato, while they should not be considered terrorism, they still cause fear in the population and inhibit investment,” Salazar pointed out.
“Where there is security, investments come. We need an intense and permanent dialogue with various sectors that suffer the effects and want to be part of the solution,” he added.
