In case you’ve been living in a cave with no internet, on January 3rd, 2025, under President Trump’s direction, U.S. forces attacked Caracas, Venezuela, captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took them to the United States.
What is the reaction of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum?
In a nutshell, President Sheinbaum has condemned the action but continues business as usual with the U.S.A., nor does she appear to think there is much chance of a similar operation in Mexico.
On January 5th, at the beginning of her morning press conference (watch or read here), Presidenta Sheinbaum read a prepared statement about the Venezuela situation.
Here are some excerpts:
“The position of Mexico in the face of any sort of intervention is firm, clear and historic. As a result of the recent actions in Venezuela…Mexico reaffirms a principle that is not new and is not ambiguous. We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries. “
This is not surprising, non-intervention is a longstanding Mexican foreign affairs doctrine. With some exceptions, that’s how Mexico has practiced its foreign policy since the Mexican Revolution.
Sheinbaum said this was a principle of both the Mexican constitution and the UN Charter. But she also cited George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
“In 1796, George Washington called for the practice of good faith and justice among all nations, to cultivate the peace and harmony of all.”
And, “Lincoln defined democracy as ‘the government of the people, by the people and for the people’. ”
Sheinbaum said that the Western Hemisphere faces new challenges, including “global economic competition, particularly in the face of the growth of Asia”. On that issue she is clearly on the side of the U.S., look at Mexico’s tariff policy.
She also called for “a regional economic integration based on shared production chains, just and beneficial commerce for all the countries of the hemisphere, which permit us to be self-sufficient as a region, on an equal level to compete with the growth of Asia.”
President Sheinbaum spoke of Mexico’s cooperation with the United States, but she said
“Cooperación, sí; subordinación e intervención, no” – Cooperation yes, subordination and intervention, no.
Later in the press conference, Sheinbaum was asked about the possibility of the U.S. intervening in Mexico, and she responded that “I don’t believe in the invasion”.
Sheinbaum said of her 14 phone conversations with Trump that “On various occasions he [Trump] has insisted that ‘the U.S. Army should go into Mexico’. We have always said no very firmly.”
To summarize:
1. Sheinbaum has condemned Trump’s Venezuela intervention, but isn’t really doing anything about it.
2. Sheinbaum rejects an American intervention in Mexico, even with Mexican permission.
3. Otherwise, it’s business as usual with the U.S.A.
None of this is surprising of course. But it’s worth noting.