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Mexico presidential candidate wants to move closer to US as leftist opponent prefers Cuba
FIRST ON FOX – Mexico will elect a new president in June and, for the first time the race is between two women, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz from a coalition of center-right-left parties, considered an unprecedented anti-communist coalition, and Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s leftist coalition.
The differences between the two women are vast – Galvez wanting to work with the U.S. as the country’s main ally while Sheinbaum seems to be more intent on following the far-left approach of the outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO.)
Gálvez was recently in New York and Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress, business leaders and officials from the State Department, where she presented her vision for Mexico and for the future of its relationship with the U.S.
During her visit she addressed the border, immigration, fentanyl, organized crime, nearshoring, and the future of the trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC). She reminded the U.S. that “according to a study published in the journal Science, organized crime is the fifth-largest employer in Mexico.”
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Upon her return to Mexico, Gálvez answered Fox News Digital questions at a press conference about the stark differences between her and her opponent.
“In the first scenario, Mexico gets back on the democratic track to strengthen the rule of law, and it confronts organized crime head on, and reclaims its territory, and reduces violence, eliminates extortion, and provides basic legal certainty for businesses. In this scenario, Mexico and the U.S. build a relationship that brings about not only prosperity but also security, safety, and democratic stability to North America,” she said.
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez is running as the underdog candidate. (Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
She claimed a win by her opponent will lead to major problems. “Mexico continues to move toward democratic erosion. Organized crime spreads, and the military gains political power and is incapable of providing security. Mexicans are victims of insecurity, extortion and violence, which hinder growth and development in entire regions. Mexico continues to be a trade partner but is not a geopolitical ally of the U.S., Mexico’s populist government flirts with Russia and China. And threatens to build new partnerships.”
Some analysts wonder why the bilateral relationship has not advanced during AMLO’s presidency and the Biden administration. Gálvez’ response: “Today we are partners, but we are not allies.”
She said if the ruling left-wing party wins again, “neither immigration, nor fentanyl, nor any other bilateral problem will be able to find long-term solutions. Solving the problems of immigration and fentanyl requires three things that the current government of Mexico and her candidate do not have: a state strategy, institutional capacity, and genuine will to collaborate.”
She said, “presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum only promises continuity and says that Mexico is better than ever when we know with all the evidence that is not true.”
Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a campaign rally at Plaza Liberación on March 3, 2024, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mexicans will head to the polls for the general election on June 2. (Leonardo Alvarez Hernandez/Getty Images)
Presently trailing in several opinion polls, Gálvez, who hopes to close the gap as the June election gets nearer, told Fox News Digital, “The United States always has the fear that our customs agents let fentanyl pass through, and we complain to them that they let weapons pass through.”
Critics of Sheinbaum warn she has made clear that, under her leadership, Mexico will follow the principles of “free self-determination of the people, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries and the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” which leads her to promise the continuity of the “hugs not bullets” strategy to avoid confronting the drug cartels.
Unlike Galvez, who believes that the Mexico- U.S. relationship is the most important one, Sheinbaum wants to focus more on Latin America, where she has shown enormous sympathy with the regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. She has even gone so far as to declare: “Mexico should never have a submissive relationship with the United States, ever.”
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Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum waves to supporters. (Victoria Razo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Economist and political analyst Alfredo Velasco told Fox News Digital, “To evaluate a candidate and her government program, we need to know her preparation, experience and performance in previous positions or activities. Rather than assigning value to her campaign promises, it is important to know her achievements. Of the candidates in the campaign, the most prepared with master’s and doctoral studies is Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. The one with the most experience in public administration and the one who has accredited important achievements is also Sheinbaum.” Sheinbaum is the former mayor of Mexico City.
Xochitl Galvez holds a Mexican national flag during a political event at the Angel of Independence monument on Sept. 3, 2023, in Mexico City. (Gerardo Vieyra/picture alliance via Getty Images)
He continued, “Where I think there is a significant gap is in the approach to the campaigns. While Claudia Sheinbaum has a diagnosis and a 100-point program to address the country’s fundamental problems, Xóchitl Gálvez focuses her campaign on public insecurity, which is perhaps what worries the population the most.”
A multi-agency investigation targeting the Sinaloa Drug Cartel. (Tempe PD)
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Political analyst Juan Hernández, a former cabinet member under President Vicente Fox, believes Gálvez was very clear on her visit to the U.S. and that if she wins, she will work with Washington to stop money going to drug traffickers and the weapons going to Mexico. “She didn’t blame the U.S. but wanted to make sure that, to stop this cancer, both countries need to work together in a new way. She said she would be a great negotiator and emphasized that she is aware and concerned of how many people have died in the U.S. due to fentanyl consumption.”
The US-Mexico border fence with camp shelters left by migrants in San Ysidro, California, on Sept, 14, 2023. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Gettay Images)
Hernández continued, “There was more than one meeting with legislators. Their questions were very sincere, and she had a frank conversation with them. They asked her: Will you be strong in stopping the drug business in Mexico? She assured them that she will and that both sides need to work together in a new way. She insisted that they need to do their part as legislators, these cannot be done by Mexico alone.”
Ildefonso Guajardo, the former minister of economy and international liaison for Gálvez, told Fox News Digital that the tour was to basically “Wake up Washington!”
A musician performs during a campaign rally for presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez in Irapuato, Mexico, on March 1, 2024. (Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images)
He said, “Gálvez shared her vision of Mexico’s position in the most important relationship it has in North America and its positioning in the world.”
“She clearly established that her vision is focused on a moment in which we return to global polarization in two compasses: one defined by her values where she identifies with governments that protect human rights, advance freedom, and democracy; where, clearly, Mexico’s interest is not associated with countries that are autocracies or single-man governments. And her other compass is that Mexico shares a large border with the United States where most of Mexico’s economic interest is associated with this market and that is why this relationship is of enormous priority.”
Questions sent to the presidential campaign of Claudia Sheinbaum were not returned.
Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung go head-to-head in “Made in Korea,” a 1970s crime noir that launches Dec. 24 on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere.
The series stars Hyun Bin (“Crash Landing on You,” “Confidential Assignment”) as Baek Kitae, an ambitious KCIA agent in 1970s South Korea who leads a dangerous double life. By day, he works as a government operative, while by night he runs an illegal operation, using his underworld connections to consolidate power, protect his brother and generate substantial revenue for the agency.
Jung Woo-sung (“Tell Me That You Love Me,” “12.12: The Day”) co-stars as Jang Geonyoung, an incorruptible prosecutor determined to bring Kitae down. Woo Dohwan (“Bloodhounds,” “Mr. Plankton”) plays Kitae’s brother Baek Kihyun.
The series is written by Park Eunkyo (“Mother,” “A Normal Family,” “The Silent Sea”) and Park Joonseok (“A Normal Family”), directed by Woo Minho (“The Man Standing Next,” “Inside Men,” “Harbin”), and produced by Hive Media Corp (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next,” “12.12: The Day”).
Following the two-episode premiere, “Made in Korea” will release two additional episodes on Dec. 31, with the final two episodes rolling out weekly through Jan. 14. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production.
The thriller joins Disney+’s expanding slate of Korean drama content that launched in 2025, including “Unmasked,” “Nine Puzzles,” “Hyper Knife,” “Low Life,” “The Murky Stream” and “Tempest.”
The streamer has additional Korean series slated for 2026, including “Gold Land” starring Park Boyoung, “Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byeon Wooseok, and the return of “A Shop for Killers” for a second season with Lee Dongwook and Kim Hyejun.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker meets with Pope Leo XIV
Illinois Democratic Gov. Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker met with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, a fellow native of the Land of Lincoln, at the Vatican this week. (Credit: REUTERS — No use Fox Weather/Outkick)
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Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” after his home state of Illinois approved a law allowing medically assisted suicide.
Leo, who grew up in Chicago, said he had spoken “explicitly” with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker while the legislation was on his desk and urged him not to sign the bill into law, saying the measure undermines respect for human life from “the very beginning to the very end.”
“Unfortunately, for different reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo told reporters outside Rome. “I am very disappointed about that.”
The Medical Aid in Dying Act, also referred to as “Deb’s Law,” was signed into law by Pritzker on Dec. 12 and allows eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors.
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Pope Leo XIV met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Nov. 19 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The measure was named after Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident with a rare terminal illness who had pushed for the bill’s approval.
The law takes effect in September 2026, giving participating healthcare providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) time to implement required processes and protections.
Leo said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich also urged Pritzker not to sign the bill, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
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Pope Leo XIV said he was very disappointed” that Illinois passed a law allowing medically assisted suicide. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
“I would invite all people, especially in these Christmas days, to reflect upon the nature of human life, the goodness of human life,” Leo said. “God became human like us to show us what it means really to live human life, and I hope and pray that the respect for life will once again grow in all moments of human existence, from conception to natural death.”
The state’s six Catholic dioceses have also criticized Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, saying it puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”
Illinois joins a growing list of states allowing medically assisted suicide. Eleven other states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide, according to the advocacy group, Death with Dignity, and seven other states are considering allowing it.
After signing the bill, Pritzker said the legislation would allow patients with terminal illnesses to “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” and said it would be “thoughtfully implemented” to guide physicians and patients through deeply personal decisions.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Dec. 12, allowing eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Exactly one year after Donald Trump first announced his intention to integrate Greenland into US territory on grounds of “national protection”, he’s back for more.
The US president has appointed Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the new US special envoy for Greenland with the stated objective of “integrating Greenland into the United States” and repeated the US needs the territory for its national security.
His comments have been taken seriously by EU heads of state and government, who are presenting a united front against what they describe as American expansionist ambitions towards the autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, both responded to the announcement by reaffirming their support for the integrity of Denmark’s territory.
“Greenland belongs to its people. Denmark stands as its guarantor. I join my voice to that of Europeans in expressing our full solidarity.”
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters the United States “needs Greenland for national security, not for minerals or oil, but national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, there are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. So, we need this for protection.”
He also chastised Denmark for what he described neglecting the territory, “they have spent no money, they have no military protection, they say Denmark arrived there 300 years ago with boats – we were there with boats too, I’m sure. We’ll have to work it all out.”
Adding to the European voices pushing back on the US ambitions and the criticism of Denmark, Commission Ursula von der Leyen insisted that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law”. Despite the tone coming out of Washington, she appeared to refer to the US as an ally in arctic security.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed those remarks. “Respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity is central to the EU and to all nations of the world,” he wrote on X. “Security in the Arctic is a priority in which we seek to work with allies and partners.”
The US and Denmark are part of NATO, which is supposed to ensure mutual defence in the event of aggression against one of its members. That principle has never been tested by conflict between members of the alliance if one were to seize territory from another.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has so far remained silent on the issue. During a press conference with Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in March, he also chose not to comment after a question from a journalist.
“When it comes to Greenland, if it joins the US or not, I will leave that outside of me in this discussion because I don’t want to drag NATO into that,” he said.
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