Steven LaChance Blog

The President of Mexico just responded to Trump’s tariffs, and part of her statement deserves a closer look—not just because it’s sharp, but because it’s brutally honest.

She kicked things off by quoting Benito Juárez: “Nothing by force; everything by reason and right. Between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.” Then she got straight to the point: Mexico outright rejects the White House’s claims that its government collaborates with cartels. In fact, she flipped the script: “If there’s any alliance, it’s in U.S. gun shops selling high-powered weapons to these groups,” citing a U.S. Department of Justice report from January.

She didn’t stop there. Mexico’s government, she noted, has seized over 40 tons of drugs in four months—including 20 million fentanyl doses—and arrested 10,000 people tied to cartels. Her message to the U.S.? “If you want to tackle fentanyl, start by cracking down on street-level drug sales and money laundering in your own cities.” Ouch.

And she’s not wrong. Let’s talk about who’s arming the cartels. This isn’t new.

Remember Oliver North and the Iran-Contra scandal? The Reagan administration literally sold weapons to Iran and funneled profits to Nicaraguan rebels. Or how about the U.S. government importing $200,000 worth of LSD (that’s $3 million today) during the MK-Ultra mind-control experiments? When it comes to shady deals with drugs and guns, America’s hands aren’t clean.

Here’s the kicker: Fentanyl—the drug we’re blaming Mexico for—is FDA-approved. I was given it after heart surgery for pain as were many other people.

The U.S. legally lets this stuff in. Sound familiar? It’s the OxyContin playbook all over again: Big Pharma hooks people through “legal” channels, then we act shocked when addiction explodes. You can’t blame Mexico for a demand you created. Take away one drug, and users find another. The fix starts here, not with tariffs or border walls.

Trump’s tariffs? A distraction. The real issue is that the U.S. refuses to look in the mirror. We’re the top customer for cartels and their biggest arms dealer. Want to end this? Cut the demand. Regulate pharma giants. Follow the money. But that’d mean admitting we’re the problem—and that’s a pill Washington won’t swallow.

Mexico’s President nailed it: Peace comes from respecting sovereignty, not bullying neighbors. Meanwhile, America’s still stuck in the same old cycle: create a crisis, point fingers, repeat.