MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president said he
would discuss security on Tuesday with the United States after
President Donald Trump urged Mexico to "wage war" on drug
cartels following the killing of nine members of a U.S.-Mexican
Mormon family in the north of the country.
The victims were three women and six minors, and President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would speak with Trump about
possible cooperation on security, provided Mexico's sovereignty
were upheld. But he suggested he did not believe that foreign
intervention was necessary.
The dead belonged to the LeBaron family from a breakaway
Mormon community that settled in the hills and plains of
northern Mexico decades ago.
Trump tweeted early on Tuesday that he would await a call
from Lopez Obrador, urging him to accept U.S. assistance.
"The great new President of Mexico has made this a big
issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that
you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!" he wrote.
"This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United
States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the
face of the earth," Trump said.
Mexico has unleashed its military in a war on drug cartels
since 2006 but despite the arrests or killings of leading
traffickers the campaign has not succeeded in reducing drug
violence. In fact, it has led to more killings as criminal
groups fight among themselves.
The government has registered more than 250,000 homicides in
the last dozen years, most of them related to the drug war.
When asked about Trump's offer of help, Lopez Obrador said
he would welcome help but did not want Mexico's independence
compromised.
"I'll speak with President Trump to thank him for his
support, and to see if in cooperation agreements there's the
possibility of getting help," he told a regular news conference.
"I don't think we need the intervention of a foreign
government to deal with these cases," he added.
The government is investigating the motive for the killings,
which took place on Monday on a dirt road between Chihuahua and
Sonora states, both bordering the United States.
Mexico Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said there was a
possibility of mistaken identity, given the high number of
violent confrontations among warring drug gangs in the area.
"The convoy made up of suburban vans could have been
confused with criminal groups that fight for control in the
region," Durazo said alongside Lopez Obrador.
A video posted on social media showed the charred and
smoking remains of a vehicle riddled with bullet holes that was
apparently carrying the victims when the attack happened.
"This is for the record," says a male voice in an American
accent, off camera, choking up with emotion.
"Nita and four of my grandchildren are burnt and shot up."
Reuters could not independently verify the video.
Five children were also injured and transferred to hospitals
in the United States, U.S. and Mexican authorities said.
Mexico has suffered a series of attacks in recent weeks,
shocking even for a country inured to years of drug war
violence. The most notable incident was a military-style cartel
assault that forced the government to release a leader of the
Sinaloa Cartel in October.
"WE DON'T KNOW WHO DID IT"
Chihuahua and Sonora state governments issued a joint
statement saying an investigation had been launched and
additional federal and local security forces were being sent
into the area near the border between the two Mexican states.
A relative of the family, Julian LeBaron, described the
incident as a "massacre," saying some family members were burned
alive. In a text message, he said other injured members of the
family were being transported to Phoenix, Arizona for treatment.
He said four boys, two girls and three women were killed.
"We don't know why, though they had received indirect
threats. We don't know who did it," he said.
Several children who fled the attack were lost for hours in
the countryside before being found, LeBaron added.
"My cousin was murdered with her children in the truck,"
said Alex LeBaron, another relative.
In 2010, two members of the Chihuahua Mormon community,
including one from the LeBaron family, were killed in apparent
revenge after security forces tracked drug gang members. The
Mormons had suffered widespread kidnappings before that.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau, who traveled
to Sonora earlier on Monday for unrelated work meetings, said he
was following the incident closely.