Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) argued Sunday that the United States should increase its engagement with neighboring country Mexico in regards to dealing with drug cartels along the border.
Menendez's comment comes after four U.S. residents were abducted a mile across the border from Brownsville, Texas in Matamoros, Mexico this past week, with two of the residents later killed. When asked how the U.S. could get Mexico to help with the issue of drug cartels, Menendez claimed that Mexican President López Obrador made the statement "kisses, not bullets" when entering the office, and how this strategy is "not working too well," according to NBC's Meet the Press.
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"The reality is along the border communities it is the cartels that run the border communities, not the government of Mexico," Menendez said. "Mexico has a responsibility, first and foremost, to its own citizens to establish safety and security within its own territory and to those who visit its country, as well. And so we need to up, dramatically, in our engagement with Mexico. It can't be all about economics. It has to be about safety and security, as well."
The New Jersey senator added that labeling such cartels as "foreign terrorist" organizations would not in and of itself be a solution, but asking questions that would impact the cartels. Some of the questions Menendez suggested include how could the U.S. dry up the cartels's money, or how to go after the cartels's leadership.
On Friday, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) reintroduced a bill that, if passed, would require the State Department to designate certain Mexican cartels "foreign terrorist organizations." The bill, called the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, seeks to label the Gulf cartel, Cartel del Noreste, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Jalisco New Generation cartel as foreign terrorist organizations.
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When asked if he would vote for such legislation, Menendez said "we should save that for truly terrorist organizations in the world," and that he is more interested in "doing something that ultimately seeks to destroy the cartels than to just name them."
The interview with Menendez comes after three women have gone missing since traveling from Texas to Mexico more than two weeks ago, authorities said Friday. Marina Perez Rios, 48; her younger sister Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47; and their friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, crossed the border from Peñitas, Texas, into Mexico and were traveling to a flea market in the city of Montemorelos, in the state of Nuevo Leon, when they disappeared on Feb. 24, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.