WASHINGTON — Republicans running for president are ramping up the rhetoric when it comes to using the military to take on the drug cartels in Mexico. Democrats and some experts who study cartel violence say military intervention, especially without Mexico’s support, would threaten U.S.-Mexico relations. They also say solutions to the opioid epidemic have to go beyond use of military force. 

What You Need To Know

  • Republicans on the 2024 campaign trail have ramped up rhetoric about using the U.S. military to take on Mexican drug cartels

  • During last week's GOP debate, presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would support the military option 

  • Critics say the military isn't a viable option for combating the fentanyl crisis and that the approach would strain relations with Mexico

  • U.S. Rep Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said he believes part of the solution is trying to restrict the number of guns being trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico that end up bolstering the cartels

From Texas’s state police installing border buoys on the Rio Grande to tough talk by candidates about taking on the drug cartels, unilateral action against Mexico to stop the flow of narcotics into the U.S. is unnerving people on both sides of the border.

“It has become normalized, and I do think it's dangerous,” said Nathan Jones, associate professor of security studies at Sam Houston State University. “I think it's problematic in the sense that these are really complex issues that don't necessarily lend themselves to military solutions, in particular, when they do not involve the cooperation of a sovereign government on our border.” 

This rhetoric took center stage last week, during the first Republican primary presidential debate. 

Debate moderator Martha MacCallum of Fox News asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, “Would you support sending U.S. Special Forces over the border into Mexico to take out fentanyl labs, to take out drug cartel operations? Would you support that kind of American military use?”

To which DeSantis replied, “Yes, and I will do it on day one.” 

“The cartels are killing tens of thousands of our fellow citizens. You want to talk about a country in decline? You have the cartels controlling a lot of part of your southern border?” he continued. “We have to reestablish the rule of law, and we have to defend our people.”

DeSantis’s strong remarks reflect a pledge catching on among Republicans, both on the campaign trail and in Washington. Some Texas Democrats say such unilateral action would cause Mexico to stop helping the U.S. with a host of issues including immigration.

“Mexico is our largest trading partner for the United States, and by far the largest trading partner for Texas,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, told Spectrum News. “Any kind of military action you can imagine is going to be very destabilizing to both countries, going to ruin the relationship, ruin our economic relationship, and also lead to mass migration from Mexico to the United States.” 

Castro said he believes part of the solution is trying to restrict the number of guns being trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico that end up bolstering the cartels.  

“We need to do everything we can to help the Mexican government disarm the cartel, so that they no longer have that threat of violence in the same way to do what they're doing,” Castro said. “In the legislation that's been proposed by Republicans in Congress, there isn't really much of anything that addresses the prevention of fentanyl use, the treatment of fentanyl use, educating the public about the dangers of fentanyl.”

Some Republican candidates on the debate stage did stress the importance of getting Mexico’s buy-in. 

“Cooperation makes a difference. We cannot be successful going against the cartel unless we bring in Mexico as a partner. We have to use economic pressure to accomplish that,” said candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.  

“We will partner with the Mexican military, and we will hunt down and destroy the cartels that are claiming lives in the United States of America,” said presidential hopeful and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Jones, whose expertise includes organized crime in Mexico, said while there have been instances of successful law enforcement coordination between the U.S. and Mexico to target specific actors, combating fentanyl trafficking requires a detailed approach.

“We had problems with opiates long before fentanyl, so let's start there. It came from our legal pharmaceutical industry and a lack of regulation. That was a real problem,” Jones said.

“Fentanyl is a highly decentralized market, so at this point, we've seen so many actors enter the fentanyl market, it's not like that there's just two cartels we could target. There are so many smaller actors now involved,” he continued. “The problem is a much broader problem that's going to require a multifaceted approach.”

Jones described a three-pronged strategy that involves international cooperation, takes into account Mexico’s ability to help, and addresses the demand for narcotics in the U.S.