Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump once again blamed Mexico for the addiction problems plaguing his fellow citizens. He claimed that our country is “the epicenter” of drug cartel violence in Latin America, that the Mexican government has ceded control of its territory to “the enemies of humanity,” and deemed it “unacceptable for the United States to share a 2,000-mile border with a territory controlled by the cartels.” He also reiterated the fallacy that these cartels are “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere,” and therefore their members must be treated as “terrorists.”
The sun that the tycoon is trying to block out with his accusatory finger is the fact that the United States is the true epicenter of drug trafficking and that its government is the biggest enabler of that trade. Any rational observer would find it inexplicable, for example, that the White House would mobilize the most powerful armed forces on the planet to assassinate fishermen and farmers in South America in the name of the “war on drugs,” yet fail to introduce a single bill to rein in the companies that make fortunes manufacturing weapons, knowing full well that their end customers are the so-called terrorists. No less baffling is the fact that a financial group (UBS Financial Services) is allowed to operate as usual after the Treasury Department discovered that it had made international transfers totaling more than $10 billion without monitoring the possible illicit origin of the funds. And the astonishment continues upon learning that the very same government that imposes tariffs under the pretext that other nations are involved in the production of substances that poison Americans has cut billions of dollars from addiction treatment and prevention programs.
Following the money trail is very useful for pinpointing the epicenter of the drug trade. I have previously mentioned in this column that about 70 percent of cocaine profits are generated and remain within the United States. Something very similar occurs with the opioid responsible for the highest number of overdose deaths in that country. It is estimated that Mexican traffickers earn between $15,000 and $30,000 for a kilogram of pure fentanyl delivered to a wholesaler on U.S. soil. With that raw material, the distributor produces up to one million cut and adulterated pills. These are sold on the streets for between $0.50 and $5, generating revenue of up to $1.5 million. In other words, within the United States, the value of the narcotic increases fiftyfold. One need only compare the cash flow of criminals on either side of the border to realize that Trump’s “enemies of humanity” are amateurs compared to the unknown and unpunished American drug lords, whom Washington doesn’t even bother to pursue.
Since the start of his political career a decade ago, Trump has made Mexico the scapegoat for his country’s problems and has exploited xenophobia to galvanize his base. However, at this point it is clear that his rhetoric is a last-ditch attempt that betrays personal desperation and the weariness of the ploys that have allowed him to remain in power despite his ineptitude and corruption. His steadily declining popularity is worrisome for any politician on the eve of midterm elections, and it must be unbearable for an individual consumed by his egomania and his need for adulation. Unfortunately, even at his lowest point, a U.S. president retains an enormous capacity to harm both his country and the rest of the world, and the tycoon may well become even more dangerous as his administration crumbles.
Original text published by La Jornada on September 23rd, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.