Mexican President slams US lawmaker's intention of military intervention

Mexico City, March 10 (IANS) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has slammed a US lawmaker for offering to send American troops into Mexico to combat the drug trade.

"We are not a protectorate of the US or a colony of the US," said Lopez Obrador, denouncing the proposal as an "offenCe" to Mexico's sovereignty, as well as "interventionist", "inhumane" and "hypocritical", reports Xinhua news agency.

"We do not receive orders from anyone. The people of Mexico govern here," the President said at a press conference.

Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas submitted a bill to the legislature that seeks to authorize deployment of armed forces in Mexico to fight drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl.

"We are not going to allow any foreign governments to intervene in our territory, much less the armed forces of a foreign government," the President said.

The US, he said, is failing to tackle drug abuse at home, especially fentanyl addiction among its youths, which is a problem Mexico does not share.

"Why don't they take care of their young people? Why don't they take care of their serious problems of social breakdowns?" he asked.

Lopez Obrador described the lawmaker's initiative as more of an "electoral" stunt rather than a sincere effort to address drug abuse and trafficking, noting that elections are coming up in the US.