• VISIT: Weeks after several high profile violent incidents, US Attorney General, William Barr, will meet Thursday with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in an effort to what experts say is to forge a common binational plan to deal with transnational drug cartels.
• DESIGNATION: One month after the murders of 9 US-Mexican citizens in Sonora and a month and a half from the failed operation to capture a son of Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán, the meeting will occur under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s potential designation of cartels as terrorists
• REJECTION: “Mexico would not welcome this (terrorist designation)..And, a designation of this nature would weaken cooperation between the two countries”, Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard told the Mexican Senate earlier this week during a legislative hearing.
• CRITICISM: While the Mexican Government says it will press on combatting gun trafficking from the US and Mexico, analysts believe that Barr will arrive in Mexico demanding to see a domestic and international strategy in how to deal with the drug cartels.
