© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photograph
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico’s president has requested permission from the Mexican Senate to permit a gaggle of U.S. navy personnel to enter the nation to coach Mexican particular forces in early 2024, in line with an announcement within the Senate’s official gazette.
The presence of U.S. navy personnel on Mexican soil has lengthy been a delicate subject in Mexico, which misplaced a lot of its territory to america because of battle within the 1840s and likewise endured U.S. navy incursions within the early twentieth century.
The announcement revealed Tuesday mentioned President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sought permission for 11 U.S. navy personnel to participate in a program known as “Strengthening the Capacities of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.”
Lopez Obrador has vigorously defended the precept of Mexican sovereignty, passing measures to limit the power of U.S. counter-narcotics brokers to function in Mexico.
The coaching program is because of happen at a navy coaching heart to the southeast of Mexico Metropolis between Jan. 23 and March 21, 2024, in line with the Senate discover, which additionally included a duplicate of the letter despatched by the leftist president.
Lopez Obrador’s letter was dated Nov. 22, lower than every week after he met with U.S. President Joe Biden at an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco, California.
The 11 personnel named within the letter belong to the U.S. Military’s seventh Particular Forces Group, an elite unit that has operated in Iraq and Afghanistan and sometimes trains overseas troops.
The U.S. troops are anticipated to reach in Mexico with their very own weapons, ammunition and tools, the Senate letter added.
Throughout their keep, the U.S. troopers will likely be assigned to Mexico’s Protection Ministry (SEDENA), which has traditionally had shut ties to america navy.
For his half, Lopez Obrador has been vital of U.S. anti-narcotics officers working on Mexican territory, accusing U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) brokers of trampling on Mexican sovereignty.
