Sheinbaum Hits Back at Le Pen’s “Mexicanization” Warning
(MENAFN) Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday dismissed a pledge by French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen to keep cartels from dragging France toward what she called “Mexicanization,” accusing the far-right politician of speaking without the facts.
Speaking at her morning briefing, Sheinbaum turned the term on its head: “She is misinformed because the ‘Mexicanization’ that should be brought to the whole world is that of the values of Mexico’s culture. Of honesty, of love, of solidarity, of fraternity, which are much needed in the entire world today,” Sheinbaum said during her morning briefing.
Le Pen, a leading figure in the far-right National Rally (RN) party and a member of the French National Assembly, opened her campaign over the weekend with a hard line on security. Her message echoed Washington’s move to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations and its vow to take a tough stance against organized crime. “We will not allow France to slide into Mexicanization through the presence of cartels. We will eradicate these criminal organizations without hesitation, treating them as terrorists,” she said.
Her framing, however, does not line up neatly with European law enforcement data. The latest security report from the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) finds that Latin American criminal networks have expanded their presence and influence across the EU, especially in drug trafficking, often by teaming up with local European mafias. Yet the report makes no mention of Mexican cartels. It instead names Colombia’s Clan del Golfo, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Ecuador’s Los Lobos.
Mexican groups have nonetheless surfaced in France in recent months, according to reports. They include the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, the latter tied to a methamphetamine laboratory that the French Gendarmerie shut down last year.
French politicians have long used “Mexicanization” as shorthand for violent crime at home. In 2024, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau invoked it to warn of rising violence after a shooting at a restaurant. Mexican officials reacted with widespread anger, and the Mexican Embassy in France issued a formal rebuke: “The use of this expression not only stigmatizes and stereotypes Mexico but also revictimizes Mexican families affected by violence. It also disregards the significant efforts made by the Mexican government to address violence in certain parts of its territory and undermines cooperation among members of the international community, including Mexico and France, to combat the scourge of drug trafficking and its deplorable consequences around the world,” it said.
Speaking at her morning briefing, Sheinbaum turned the term on its head: “She is misinformed because the ‘Mexicanization’ that should be brought to the whole world is that of the values of Mexico’s culture. Of honesty, of love, of solidarity, of fraternity, which are much needed in the entire world today,” Sheinbaum said during her morning briefing.
Le Pen, a leading figure in the far-right National Rally (RN) party and a member of the French National Assembly, opened her campaign over the weekend with a hard line on security. Her message echoed Washington’s move to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations and its vow to take a tough stance against organized crime. “We will not allow France to slide into Mexicanization through the presence of cartels. We will eradicate these criminal organizations without hesitation, treating them as terrorists,” she said.
Her framing, however, does not line up neatly with European law enforcement data. The latest security report from the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) finds that Latin American criminal networks have expanded their presence and influence across the EU, especially in drug trafficking, often by teaming up with local European mafias. Yet the report makes no mention of Mexican cartels. It instead names Colombia’s Clan del Golfo, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Ecuador’s Los Lobos.
Mexican groups have nonetheless surfaced in France in recent months, according to reports. They include the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, the latter tied to a methamphetamine laboratory that the French Gendarmerie shut down last year.
French politicians have long used “Mexicanization” as shorthand for violent crime at home. In 2024, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau invoked it to warn of rising violence after a shooting at a restaurant. Mexican officials reacted with widespread anger, and the Mexican Embassy in France issued a formal rebuke: “The use of this expression not only stigmatizes and stereotypes Mexico but also revictimizes Mexican families affected by violence. It also disregards the significant efforts made by the Mexican government to address violence in certain parts of its territory and undermines cooperation among members of the international community, including Mexico and France, to combat the scourge of drug trafficking and its deplorable consequences around the world,” it said.
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