(MENAFN- The Rio Times) In recent days, street protests in Mexico have morphed, in parts of the U.S. conservative media ecosystem, into something much bigger than they really are: a pretext for arguing that Washington should send troops across the southern border.

What began as demonstrations driven largely by anger over cartel violence and corruption, especially after the assassination of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo in Michoacán, drew around 17,000 people to Mexico City and smaller crowds elsewhere.

The marches, initially labeled a Gen-Z revolt, have broadened to include older voters frustrated with insecurity and scandals around the ruling party.

Yet President Claudia Sheinbaum still enjoys unusually high approval ratings close to 80%, and there is no serious threat to her grip on power.

In the United States, however, Trump-aligned commentators such as Steve Bannon and Alex Jones have turned these images into something closer to an uprising. Jones describes a nationwide“revolution” with“millions” in the streets and paints Mexico as a“narcoterrorist state.”



Bannon's War Room has emphasized a generational break and suggested that young Mexicans are begging Washington, and especially Donald Trump, to“decapitate” a government allegedly captured by cartels.
U.S.-Mexico drug tensions rise
Those storylines land in a Republican base already furious over fentanyl deaths and border chaos. Trump has launched a regional campaign against so-called narco-boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, ordering around 20 strikes that have destroyed vessels and killed dozens of suspected traffickers.

He now says he would be“fine” with similar attacks inside Mexico“to stop drugs,” while lawmakers like Dan Crenshaw renew calls for authorizing the use of force against cartels.

Sheinbaum has firmly rejected any foreign troops on Mexican soil, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also ruled out unilateral action.

Legally, a cross-border operation would still require Mexico's consent and approval from the U.S. Congress. Politically, though, the ground is shifting: even in 2023, polling showed strong Republican support for sending the military into Mexico.

For readers abroad, the stakes are clear. Turning a complex security crisis into a simplified foreign military campaign may play well with angry voters, but it risks destabilizing America's largest trading partner without fixing the drug problem that fuels the anger in the first place.

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