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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 5 april 2023

Mexico complains to China about U.S. pressure over fentanyl

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mex- northern state of Sinaloa.
ico’s president asked his Most illegal fentanyl is
Chinese counterpart for pressed by Mexican cartels
help Tuesday in halting into counterfeit pills made
chemicals from China used to look like other medica-
by Mexican drug dealers to tions like Xanax, oxycodo-
illegally produce fentanyl, ne or Percocet, or mixed
while also complaining of into other drugs, including
“rude” U.S. pressure to curb heroin and cocaine. Many
the drug trade. people who die of over-
President Andrés Manuel doses in the United States
López Obrador has previ- do not know they are tak-
ously said that fentanyl is ing fentanyl.
America’s problem and is Over the last week, López
caused by “a lack of hugs” Obrador has fixated on
in U.S. families. On Tuesday press reports stating that
he doubled down on those the National Basketball As-
themes, but went further, sociation had offered in
venting in a letter to Chi- talks with the players’ union
nese President Xi Jinping to stop testing or penalizing
about “rude threats” from players for using marijuana.
U.S. legislators over the The Mexican president took
drug trade. López Obrador that as evidence of U.S.
complained about calls in Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks at the National Palace in Mexico City, social and moral decay,
the United States to desig- Jan. 10, 2023. even though Mexico has
nate Mexican drug gangs Associated Press legalized the growing of
as terrorist organizations. threat to our sovereignty, Xi Jinping, not to ask your clear if Xi had received the marijuana for personal and
Some Republicans have and moreover they are help on these rude threats, letter or if he had respond- medical use.
said they favor using the based on an absurd, ma- but to ask you for humani- ed to it. López Obrador “We are seeing the the
U.S. military to crack down nipulative, propagandistic tarian reasons to help us by has a history of writing con- basketball league has au-
on the Mexican cartels. and demagogic attitude.” controlling the shipments frontational letters to world thorized players to smoke
“Unjustly, they are blaming Only after several para- of fentanyl,” the Mexican leaders without getting a marijuana,” López Obra-
us for problems that in large graphs of venting, López president wrote. response. dor said. “How can that
measure have to do with Obrador brings up China’s China has taken some López Obrador has angrily be? Imagine, in sports! It
their loss of values, their exports of fentanyl precur- steps to limit fentanyl ex- denied that fentanyl is pro- shouldn’t be allowed any-
welfare crisis,” López Obra- sors, and asked him to help ports, but mislabeled or duced in Mexico. Howev- where.” López Obrador
dor wrote to Xi in the letter stop shipments of chemi- harder-to-detect precursor er, his own administration doubled down on his ad-
published Tuesday. “These cals that Mexican cartels chemicals continue to pour has acknowledged finding vice to strengthen family
positions are in themselves import from China. out of Chinese factories. dozens of labs where it is values in the United States
a lack of respect and a “I write to you, President It was not immediately produced, mainly in the on Tuesday. q

Train derailment near The Hague kills 1,

injures several

By PETER DEJONG and canal running alongside passengers tried to get out
MIKE CORDER the rails to reach the strick- of the wreckage in dark-
Associated Press en train in the darkness. ness.
VOORSCHOTEN, Nether- Many windows in the train Dutch King Willem-Alexan-
lands (AP) — A passenger carriages were broken. It der and Queen Maxima
train slammed into a con- was not clear if that hap- also expressed their sympa-
struction crane and de- pened during the accident thy in a tweet, and Willem-
railed near The Hague in or as passengers attempt- Alexander visited the site
the early hours of Tuesday, ed to escape. late Tuesday morning.
sending two carriages into Two of the bright yellow The four-carriage pas-
a field next to the tracks. and blue train carriages senger train was carrying
One person died and 19 came to rest perpendicu- about 50 passengers at the At least one person died and some 30 passengers were injured
in the early hours when a train partially derailed, in Voorschoten,
were hospitalized, Dutch lar to the tracks across the time of the crash. near The Hague, Tuesday April 4, 2023, sending at least one
emergency services said. small canal and partially in John Voppen, CEO of the carriage into a field next to the tracks.
Police opened an investi- a field. rail network company Pro Associated Press
gation to establish if any What appeared to be the Rail, said that the passen-
crime was committed. An- front of the train was badly ger train and a freight train ed with the crane. But Dutch media reported
other independent probe damaged. Other parts of both hit a crane that was “We don’t understand that the person was part of
was opened into the cause the train were partially de- being used to carry out how this could have hap- a maintenance team from
of the crash. railed. maintenance work. He said pened,” he told reporters construction company
Television images showed Video footage from inside the crane was on tracks at a news conference. BAM working on the rail-
people using temporary the train in the immedi- that were not being used The identity of the person way. The company did not
bridges and ladders to ate aftermath of the crash by train traffic and it is not killed in the accident was immediately return a call
cross a narrow drainage showed chaotic scenes as clear how the trains collid- not immediately released. seeking confirmation.q