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Mexico Deploys Troops to Border        02/06 06:04

   

   CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP)  -- A line of Mexican National Guard and Army 
trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Jurez and El Paso, Texas, on 
Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern 
frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump.

   Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along 
the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Jurez, pulling out makeshift 
ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. 
Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana.

   It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he 
would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In 
exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the 
country's National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl 
smuggling.

   Trump has declared an emergency on the border despite migration levels and 
fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the past year. The U.S. said it 
would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico 
to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as 
criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry.

   On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out 
of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they 
were part of the new force.

   "There will be permanent surveillance on the border," Jos Luis Santos Iza, 
one of the National Guard leaders heading off the deployment in the city, told 
media upon the arrival of the first set of soldiers. "This operation is 
primarily to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, mainly 
fentanyl."

   At least 1,650 troops were expected to be sent to Ciudad Jurez, according 
to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border 
reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 are slated 
to be sent.

   During U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip through Latin America -- 
where migration was at the top of the agenda -- the top American diplomat 
thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the 
Mexican government.

   The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of shrewd 
political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican leader. Many had previously 
cast doubt that she'd be able to navigate Trump's presidency as effectively as 
her predecessor and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

 
 
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