Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday reiterated that no foreign troops will be allowed to operate on Mexican soil, dismissing reports that the United States is drawing up plans for direct military action against drug cartels operating south of the border. “The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military … there will be no invasion,” she said at her daily news conference. Her comments follow a New York Times report last week that President Donald Trump has signed a secret directive instructing the Pentagon to prepare operations against cartels Washington recently labeled Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The order could include cross-border raids and other “capture-or-kill” missions aimed at dismantling the Sinaloa cartel, Tren de Aragua and other groups blamed for shipping fentanyl into the United States. Sheinbaum stressed that any U.S. aircraft entering Mexican airspace would require case-by-case authorization and that bilateral security cooperation would continue only under the principles of sovereignty and mutual respect. She also urged Washington to curb domestic demand for narcotics and stem the flow of U.S.-made weapons into Mexico. The White House argues the contemplated military option is needed to confront a fentanyl epidemic that claims more than 100,000 American lives each year. Mexican officials warn that unilateral action could jeopardize collaboration on migration, trade and environmental issues covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.