“Organized crime controls 35% of Mexico” Glen VanHerk, head of the U.S. Northern Command

Glen VanHerk, head of the U.S. Northern Command, explained that criminal organizations operating in “ungoverned areas” of Mexico generate problems on the U.S. southern border.

WASHINGTON D.C. (Agencies) – “Organized crime controls between 30 and 35% of the territory in Mexico, and that is one of the reasons for the increase in the number of migrants arriving each day at the southern border of the United States”. This was stated by General Glen VanHerk, head of the US Northern Command, in a conference at the Pentagon in which Craig Faller, head of the Southern Command, also participated and in which they spoke about the main threats facing the country.

In the question and answer session, Faller assured that there is a “crisis in Central America,” considering the region’s violence and insecurity.

VanHerk acknowledged that the passage of hurricanes Eta and Iota, the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the “instability created by transnational criminal organizations” are “indicators” of why people “leave Central America, South America, and Mexico to come to our nation.”

VanHerk detailed that “drug trafficking, migration, human trafficking, all are symptoms of transnational criminal organizations that often operate in ungoverned areas: 30-35% of Mexico, and that is what is creating some of the things we face at the border.”

He stressed that the United States needs to focus on that problem. “It is a national security imperative” that he explained must be addressed from a Homeland Security defense perspective because “it creates potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for actors around the world. You’ve heard me talk about Chinese influence. The same thing happens when you have ungoverned areas, instability and potential governance failures that China, Russia, and other nations will try to exploit, and it happens here, in our own neighborhood, in our hemisphere.”

AMLO denies the accusations.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) denies the accusations made by General Glen VanHerck, head of the United States Northern Command (US Northcom), who estimated drug trafficking cartels operate in around 30 to 35% of Mexican territory. López Obrador responded that what the US claims is not true and will continue to have good relations with the US government. “We are not going to fight with the US Government,” and that “President Joe Biden is very respectful and will not come to scold him.”

The Yucatan Times
Newsroom