Mexican President Seeking To Reform The Constitution And Protect The Country's Sovereignty After Trump Admin Declares Cartels As Terrorists

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Thursday that she will seek a constitutional reform aimed at strengthening protections to the country's sovereignty.

The decision follows the Trump administration's designation of six Mexican cartels as terrorist organization, a step that could pave the way for U.S. military attacks inside the country's territory.

The new classification, announced on Wednesday, prohibits Americans from providing "material support or resources" to these groups and paves the way for stricter law enforcement actions directed at them. DOGE head Elon Musk floated a possible implication of the designation. "That means they're eligible for drone strikes," he wrote in a post.

"The Mexican people will not accept under any circumstances interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that could be harmful to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation," Sheinbaum said when addressing the designation.

Concretely, the president seeks to include in the Constitution a set of limits on how foreign agents can operate in the country. The laws were passed by Sheinbaum's predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), and limits foreign authorities' independence and movement, all of which must be informed to Mexican counterparts. The goal now is for those rules to be enshrined in the country's top law.

Sheinbaum's Morena party and its allies hold majorities in both houses of Congress and have passed constitutional reforms in the past, so she is not expected to face major opposition to her initiative.

The president also responded to the designation saying the country will continue fighting the criminal groups in "collaboration" with the United States, but will not tolerate foreign interference "and certainly never invasion."

"Beyond whatever name they assign, we clearly share with the U.S. government the fight against these criminal groups, particularly due to the violence they bring to our country—This cannot be an opportunity for the United States to invade our sovereignty. They can call them whatever they want, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination—never subordination, never interference, and certainly never invasion," Sheinbaum added.

An example of cooperation between both countries was highlighted this week by Sheinbaum when she said that the country is aware of U.S. surveillance drones being flown over the country and that their activities are a result of coordination between the two administrations.

"These flights are part of the coordination... collaborations that have been going on for many years between the U.S. and Mexican governments," Sheinbaum said during one of her daily press conferences. She added that information gathered is then shared with Mexican authorities.

The statement follows a report by The New York Times, which detailed increased drone flights over Mexico as authorities look for fentanyl labs to destroy. Even though the program began during the Biden administration, activity has increased recently as part of President Donald Trump's vow to crack down on drug-smuggling.

An official told the outlet that the flights go "well into sovereign Mexico" but that the CIA has not been authorized to take lethal action, and that the guidance is not expected to change. However, since fentanyl labs emit chemicals that make them easy to identify from the air, the flights have proved helpful so far.

The U.S. has also been conducting surveillance missions at the border to get intelligence on Mexican drug cartels, declared foreign terrorist organizations this week by the State Department.