Mexico confronts the US: its nationals will not be sent to Guantanamo

Since the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he would detain some irregular migrants at the Guantanamo base in Cuba, Mexico wanted to make things clear. It will not allow any of its nationals to be sent there “under any circumstances.”

“Regarding the issue of Guantanamo, I can tell you that no Mexican man or woman will be sent there under any circumstances,” Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente told reporters, according to CNN.

“Since the news became known, a diplomatic note was sent to the United States embassy, saying that we will receive all Mexicans who wish to return, and that is what has happened until now and will continue to happen,” De la Fuente added.

The secretary also praised President Claudia Sheinbaum's handling of the tariff issue, in which she obtained a one-month extension until the new tariffs are imposed. Both believe that dialogue is the way to solve other problems such as migration.

"I believe that we can, once again, in the coming weeks and days, give strong evidence that Mexico is in the best of spirits to continue collaborating," De la Fuente said, according to El Universal.

The Secretary-General believes that these are common problems and that it would be much better for both countries if they could address them in a coordinated and joint manner.

This week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the first detainees had been transferred to Guantanamo but did not provide further information about their origins. 

As reported by France 24, the migrants are allegedly members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua, according to the Trump administration.

As reported by The New York Times Donald Trump said that there are plenty of beds in Guantanamo for the most dangerous criminals: “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” he said. “Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantánamo.”

According to France 24, “the Tren de Aragua gang emerged more than a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison and now operates in various Latin American countries.” The gang was classified as a “deadly criminal threat to the region” in 2024 during Joe Biden’s term in office.

Regarding the number of migrants returned so far, De la Fuente said that there have not been many changes. “The numbers have not really varied much from what was happening before, but we will continue to be very attentive so that those who decide to return, who are forced to return, can do so under the best conditions.”

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.