Mexican president denounces US lawmaker's intention of military intervention

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday rebuked a US lawmaker for offering to send US troops into Mexico to combat the drug trade.

"We are not a protectorate of the United States or a colony of the United States," said Lopez Obrador, denouncing the proposal as an "offense" to Mexico's sovereignty, as well as "interventionist", "inhumane" and "hypocritical".

"We do not receive orders from anyone. The people of Mexico govern here," the president said at his daily press conference.

US Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas submitted a bill to the legislature that seeks to authorize deployment of armed forces in Mexico to fight drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl.

"We are not going to allow any foreign governments to intervene in our territory, much less the armed forces of a foreign government," the Mexican president said.

The United States, he said, is failing to tackle drug abuse at home, especially fentanyl addiction among its youths, which is a problem Mexico does not share.

"Why don't they take care of their young people? Why don't they take care of their serious problems of social breakdowns?" he asked.

Lopez Obrador described the lawmaker's initiative as more of an "electoral" stunt rather than a sincere effort to address drug abuse and trafficking, noting that elections are coming up in the United States.