Mexico's Top Diplomat Claims Historic Crime Drop, Presses US on Migrant Deaths

Mexico's Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Alvarez laid out an ambitious defense of the Sheinbaum administration's record on security, trade, and diplomacy during a wide-ranging session at the Council on Foreign Relations on Sept. 25 — claiming a 50%-plus reduction in homicides while demanding US accountability for 17 Mexican nationals who died in immigration detention.

• Mexico reports the largest homicide decline in its history — over 50% — under President Sheinbaum, with 2,700+ drug labs dismantled and 200+ priority targets arrested
• USMCA revision and Section 232 tariff talks continue without a deal, as Mexico pushes for longer-term trade certainty
• Mexico demands US investigation into 17 Mexican nationals who died in ICE detention; no concrete results to date
• Energy sector opens to mixed foreign investment under new legal framework, marking a departure from prior resource nationalism
• South Korea state visit — the first in 16 years — produces 17 MOUs on aerospace, AI, customs, and cultural exchange
• Mexico maintains independent China ties while using Plan México to reduce Asian import dependence
• Mexico backed Michelle Bachelet for UN Secretary-General before her withdrawal, now reassessing candidates

Foreign Minister Velasco Alvarez devoted more time to security than any other subject, mounting a data-heavy rebuttal to US Secretary of State Rubio's assertion that Mexico's efforts against organized crime are "not nearly enough."