Days after gang members kidnapped four US citizens, two of whom were murdered, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that his country is “safer” than the US and “there is no problem traveling.” ” in the country,

Obrador made the comparison when asked about Washington’s new instructions to Americans to avoid travel to Mexico, or to take precautions when visiting 30 of the 32 Mexican states.

“Why such insanity?” asked the Mexican president.

At the same time, he once again criticized the position of members of the US Congress, during which the US military should be deployed inside Mexican territory as part of the fight to crack down on drug cartels.

“This is a campaign against Mexico, carried out by conservative politicians in the United States,” said the country’s president, who last week described as “deplorable” the American politicians who supported the idea, accusing them of “propaganda” in the run-up to the presidential and congressional elections of 2024 in the USA.

“Unacceptable attacks”

The Mexican president received members of the US Congress and US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar on Monday and spoke of his government’s efforts to combat the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times stronger than heroin, and to resolve differences between the two neighbors on commercial issues.

The group of eight congressmen, led by Jason Smith, a Republican congressman from Missouri, consisted of five other members of his party and two Democratic politicians, the presidency said in a statement.

“We are partners (…) forever. There are sometimes problems, disagreements, but we know that we are united”, Mr. Salazar emphasized to the press after the meeting.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard transferred the position of President López Obrador to the Mexican ambassador and 52 consuls in the US yesterday in Washington.

He called on diplomats to conduct an information campaign to defend the country in the face of “the unacceptable attacks of former and current parliamentarians of the Republican Party”, according to a press release from his services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On March 3, four US citizens, three men and one woman, were shot and kidnapped by thugs in the city of Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas (northeast). The two were murdered and the other two were found later, in the district of Matamoros, one wounded, the other unharmed. A passing Mexican woman was also among the victims of the fire.