By Luis de Jesus
Sep 30, 2023, 18:05 PM EDT
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, accused China of protecting Mexican drug prisons, which are making people addicted to fentanyl. The politician made the statement at the California Republican Party Convention, in which he reiterated that he will use “lethal force” against these organizations if he reaches the White House.
“I will use lethal force against the Mexican drug cartels. “They have great military power and are protected by China,” said the Republican in his speech, which was related to the crisis over opioid consumption, which daily kills about 150 people in the United States due to overdose.
Criminal groups from Mexico and China are mostly involved in the trafficking of these substances.
“Our country demands to recover its sovereignty. They are taking it away from us across the border, turning people into addicts who were not addicted,” DeSantis said at the meeting, held in the city of Anaheim.
The US government has denounced that Mexican cartels manufacture fentanyl using chemicals they buy in China and subsequently traffic it to the United States, where more than 70,000 people died last year from overdoses of that opioid, according to official figures.
However, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has assured that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico, but rather comes directly from China. He has also stated that his government has dismantled several laboratories where that drug is produced.
On previous occasions, the governor of Florida assured that he would confront the Mexican criminal organizations that make fentanyl a lucrative business. In August, he stated that, from the first day of arriving at the White House, he would send US security officials to Mexico to destroy the sites where that substance is manufactured.
“The president of the United States must use all available powers as commander in chief to protect our country and protect the people. So, when they cross the border, yes, we are going to use lethal force,” the Republican warned at the time, as he quoted Bloomberg.
DeSantis, at the California Republican Party Convention, did not mention whether he plans to deploy the military on Mexican soil, even if he does not have the consent of that country’s government.
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