Mexico rejects Trump’s plea for US forces to take on cartels

It is a proposal that Trump has made before, Sheinbaum said. But Trump has raised the stakes since Maduro’s capture, signaling his displeasure with the security situation in Mexico. In a television interview last week, he said the U.S. is “going to start hitting land with regard to the cartels," saying the groups run Mexico.

Sheinbaum said she told Trump that U.S. participation wasn’t necessary. “We are very clear on the defense of our territory," she said at a news conference, recounting her conversation with Trump.

Trump had a “great conversation with President Sheinbaum" and discussed trade and stopping the flow of illicit drugs. “The President’s primary goal is stopping the scourge of narcoterrorism that is destroying communities across the country and he is willing to use any tool at his disposal to save American lives," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

The Monday morning call between Trump and Sheinbaum underlined growing alarm among Mexican security officials about the intentions of the U.S.

High-level officials have held a series of private meetings since Maduro was deposed where they discussed the possibility of untenable demands from Trump beyond U.S. military action, including the potential arrests of politicians from Sheinbaum’s party the U.S. believes have cartel ties, said people familiar with the discussions.

So far, there is no indication that unilateral U.S. military action is in the works, these people say, primarily because Mexican security officials have strong links to the top brass of U.S. law enforcement and armed forces. These channels remain open and bilateral security cooperation is robust, the people familiar with the discussions said.

Sheinbaum has drawn praise for her handling of Trump’s threats on trade and security since she took office more than a year ago, but her top security officials worry that she is running out of cards to play, the people said. She is now stuck between two powerful men with big egos: Trump and her own mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her predecessor as president, these people said.

López Obrador has been generally quiet since leaving office, but after Maduro’s capture, he issued a scathing criticism of the U.S. action, calling it “an arrogant attack on the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people." The statement was much more critical than Sheinbaum’s official reaction and suggested to security officials that the president would have trouble pleasing both Trump and her leftist nationalist coalition for much longer, the people said.

Morena, as the ruling party is known, has rejected corruption allegations. Sheinbaum has said that Mexican prosecutors should investigate officials if there is evidence against them.

Such a scenario risks undermining Sheinbaum’s political standing and infuriating the nationalist faction of her ruling party, people familiar with the discussions said. Maintaining a balance between Trump and López Obrador has complicated Sheinbaum’s decision-making as she works to dismantle cartels, one of these people said.

A spokesman for Sheinbaum declined to comment.

Unilateral U.S. military action would create a nationalist backlash and risk destroying cooperation between the two countries, said Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexican security analyst. “Organized crime would be the winner," he said.

Sheinbaum has had some success at taking down cartel members. But she hasn’t moved against important officials of her party believed to be linked to drug cartels, said Jorge Castañeda, a former foreign minister.

“Going after cartels is one thing, but handing over politicians is another kettle of fish," he said.

But Sheinbaum has already done much to appease Trump, and security officials worry it may be harder to head him off this time.

Last year, Mexico placated the Trump administration by skirting extradition laws and expelling 55 convicted drug traffickers to the U.S., including some of Mexico’s most notorious kingpins. Sheinbaum also sent troops to the border, put tariffs on China and ramped up seizures of drug labs.

Trump has expressed gratitude toward Sheinbaum, but he has said that she’s afraid to go after cartels.

The sensitivity of the response to Maduro was evident in a predawn meeting two days after Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture. Sheinbaum and her senior officials, including the military’s top brass, met for their daily security meeting at the ornate presidential palace, where they discussed how Mexico should respond to Trump, said people familiar with the discussions.

Sheinbaum read a draft of a statement she had prepared. Some Mexican officials at the meeting thought it was a good message, the people said. Others who work with U.S. security counterparts sat stone-faced, worried the statement would draw Trump’s ire, these people said.

“We categorically reject intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries," Sheinbaum said, reading the statement during her daily news conference later that morning. “The history of Latin America is clear and compelling: intervention has never brought democracy, never generated well-being, nor lasting stability."

Another worry for Mexican officials is that the cartels are growing more daring in their efforts to ship drugs to the U.S., potentially drawing Trump’s ire.

Last month, senior Mexican and U.S. officials discussed recent cartel drone incursions into U.S. territory, the U.S. government said. Such shows of defiance by Mexican organized crime groups have alarmed U.S. officials.

Drone incursions by cartels into U.S. airspace are skyrocketing, people familiar with the events say, making it a top bilateral security issue. Scores of cartel drones fly into southern Texas every day to either drop drug loads, do reconnaissance on U.S. law enforcement or loiter over ports of entry to track drug shipments into the U.S., these people said. The commercial drones are difficult to detect by radar. Cartels now use fiber optic cable to control the drones, making them impervious to signal scramblers when they fly them into the U.S.

In October, a criminal gang dropped a drone bomb on a state prosecutor’s headquarters in Tijuana a mile-and-a-half from the U.S. border. The bombing of a government office so close to the U.S. sparked consternation in Washington, these people said.

Write to José de Córdoba at jose.decordoba@wsj.com and Santiago Pérez at santiago.perez@wsj.com