Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters ahead of his trip to Manila, Philippines. Secretary Rubio is departing from Joint Base Andrews to attend the 59th Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting set to take place this week.
Secretary Rubio spoke about a number of topics and was questioned about the ongoing Iran conflict in the Middle East. This comes as the United States continues to launch attacks on Iran through the weekend. WATCH:
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Within the interview there was a question about the FIFA World Cup attendance by President Trump, Prime Minister Carney and President Sheinbaum; essentially about relations. Secretary Rubio interestingly notes that Sheinbaum attended despite having significant challenges in Mexico right now. The tone and intonation of the remark imply something much more significant happening in the background than is currently visible to the general public. Worth watching.
Something serious is happening within Mexico that is straining/complicating our broader geopolitical support for the Sheinbaum administration. Recent events have not made headlines, but what Rubio notes is likely related to a significant shift in cartel activity. {SEE HERE} and {SEE HERE} and {SEE HERE}.
https://Twitter.com/Newsforce/status/2078951007413809322
post is missing
Link reolves to this
We’re unable to show this contentThe content may be private, deleted or only available on the app.
BUT if I use nitter it opens.
https://nitter.poast.org/Newsforce/status/2078951007413809322
“Age-restricted graphic content…”
What is “too graphic” for my young eyes?
😕
Reality
The post states: 10 bodies, including a former mayor, were found across Zacatecas, Mexico—5 of them hanging from a bridge.
A narco-message was left at the scene as authorities launched searches in the cartel-plagued state.
And the photo shows the bodies hanging from the bridge.
Some 20 years ago, a dear friend of mine, a guy named Daniel Dion, was found torched in the back of a car in a Mexican state. I had warned him many times not to deal with the government, but he ignored my warnings.
He was about to secure a government contract.
My only hope was they had shot him dead before putting his body in the back hood of a car and then torching it.
Daniel had a bedroom in my home. That’s how close we were. When I found out on a Sunday morning, I went looking for a church. I needed peace from the deep distress. Only one church took me in around 11h30, an Anglican church. I cried out my story. And they gave my first and only New Testament.
That New Testament book changed my life. So much peace from that Book. Not like the Qur’an.
Nothing that is business-related is safe in Mexico. I traveled the country for 40 years. I know.
The wars and rumors of wars seem to be piling up
Amongst many other Scriptural prophesies.
Are we paying attention yet?
Wild animal attacks are certainly increasing…
Is there anyone here that can translate..Thanks
Dear God please continue to protect our leaders who are trying so hard to protect our citizens, our country, our values.
Thank you God for giving them strength to fight for us against this evil, evil force.
AMEN, AMEN, & AMEN
We MUST continue to call upon The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!
Amen 🙏
See CoffeeandCovid for this morning’s delight — 2nd item down is on Sinola Cartel getting busted big time.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/basket-weavers-monday-july-20-2026
That’s a terrorist organization.
It is a good move designating these as terrorists and not treating them as naughty boys.
This allows the US to end their activities in the US.
ALL the cartels are terrorist organizations. And, while he’s at it, ban all Mosques and tear down the ones that are already here.
Somebody messing with stuff they don’t like.
We’re unable to show this contentThe content may be private, deleted or only available on the app.
The “indegenous” in that geographical region have always been quite savage
The inventors of soccer LOL
Game for savages.
But Scheinbaum knows nothing…
Nothing.
Does she believe in God?
She’s being protected so far, must be doing cartels bidding or she’d be hanging too.
God is God is Almighty God and Eternal.
I don’t know who she answers to, sis. I have suspicions, because she publicly announced she would not confront the cartels or go after them, because “reasons”…
But one day she will have to answer. On this earth, or elsewhere.
Sgt Scheinbaum 👍🏻
According to Google Maps, 7 1/2 hours south of Laredo, Texas.
Don’t have X so I can’t read some of them but I did see sheinbaum saying something about asking the ICC about taking legal action against us for illegals deaths.
Sorry I don’t have link.
I can’t edit but the above is incorrect…here’s a link
Mexico’s Sheinbaum announces criminal charges request in US over ICE deaths | Migration News | Al Jazeera https://share.google/Rg1WejcYVqqehI9q5
Looking back it seems that relations between the us and mexico have always been poor. We now have semi hostile nations to the north and south of us, and are a specic threat to maga because dems in power would allow mexico and canada to do as they please.
She is in on it all. I guess she likes being alive as opposed to the citizens?
Two options: You’re either cure, or the disease!
Not necessarily.
A third option is that well-intentioned foreign leaders who live in danger of assasination might reach a private agreement with Trump that they will cooperate behind the scenes to enable the US to eliminate the cartels, while publicly posturing as anti-US, anti-Trump Administration in order to remain in
poweroffice.Such an agreement seems almost a necessity wherever the forces of evil are entrenched and have become integrated with the system, like a tumor that cannot be removed witout destroying the functions of the organ it has invaded.
In an environment of competitive gangs, eliminating powerful gang leaders only unleashes more chaos, to the harm of the innocent. Gangs and cartels have the advantage that a starfish has to a spider–cut off the spider’s legs, it cannot function and dies. Cut off starfish arms, and each arm generates a new starfish.
I’m encouraged (hopefully not wrongly) that competing cartels are seeking to unite against the US. Yes, they’ll find unity in a common mission. But making that unity work toward a goal will require new organizational structures that are mission-oriented rather than survival oriented — which should make it become more like a spider than a starfish.
And hopefully easier to eliminate.
” Wiki AI cite: Plata o plomo is a Colombian Spanish slang phrase that translates to “silver or lead.” A person saying the phrase is telling the listener to either accept a bribe (plata, meaning “silver,” a common slang term for money in Colombia) or lose their life (plomo, a metonym for “lead bullet”).”
She knows they can reach her anywhere in Mexico, so she plays her part and enjoys the benefits for doing so!
Well, in reality, wouldn’t you? Speaking for myself, I don’t think it would take me too to decide.
I am reminded of the movie “Tombstone”. The famous line about the red sashes, and how it might relate to those high thinkers with face and neck tattoos. Remember the Alamo!
What a pickle. We have had enough of the cartels and our neighbor is a Narco state.
Americans drive that business by their urge to use those drugs and buy the sex slaves from the cartels.
Make them stop, and there will be no cartels.
Their business is no different than any other business. People stopped going to Blockbuster Video, and they disappeared.
Maybe drug addicts in the USA could be euthanized; that would end the cartels.
Going after the suppliers is not the only solution. Rehab is BS; it never works. Ending addicts works.OD is the solution
If it’s true that the Intelligence Community funds its other non-approved activities through drug sales and human trafficking, and they more than the (addicted) “free” market enable these vices to thrive, our Constitution provides us with more than enough legal power to liberate rather than eliminate.
But we are much like Mexico, even to the forced corruption of politicians and judges, from local to Federal.
We just refer to our cartels as the deep state.
Appreciate your insight, Sundance. Thank you.
If SecState Rubio is hungry for some Chinese I recommend the Man Ho restaurant at the Marriott. Barramundi is great. Birds nest soup as well.
These journalists do not humiliate Rubio but expose how dumb they are with their questions.
Best thing America should do is “Close the Southern Border, revoke ALL the outstanding VISAS for Mexicans and not allow any Mexican “LETTUCE” and other goods come into America until Sheinbaum gives the Trump admin permission to go into Mexico and put the Cartels OUT of business. BTW, think of the upside, no more Cyclophorias giving Americans the “shits”!
Also, cut off all remittances going to Mexico and elsewhere!
not sure i would wait for her permission but i otherwise agree.
with all of our other scattered wars, i cannot help but wonder how capable we are of fighting a MAJOR guerilla war right on our border (and almost certainly well inside it) that is likely to be way more brutal and difficult than afghanistan and iraq should the cartels decide to truly escalate it all.
are the american people really ready for such a thing and the nonstop video of everything, an actual war inside the homeland?
This is a great essay on what gets no press not even conservative… he doesn’t skimp on the dots-connecting outline but I do
so go read it all…
SO MUCH has been/ is being accomplished under the radar!
“… 🔥🔥🔥
In the ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ news bucket, yesterday the Financial Times reported, { “Sinaloa cartel founder set for $15bn forfeiture order and life sentence.” } Ho, hum.
…
Though you’d have to read FT’s awfully written story three times to figure this out, four related cartel leaders are now in US custody. Zambada is the final one. Last August, he pleaded guilty, and this week he was sentenced to a fine of a historic $15 billion and got life in prison.
During Trump 1.0 in 2019, Zambada’s partner and co-founder, Guzmán, was sentenced to life plus 30, plus a forfeiture fine of $12.6 billion. He is now buried deep in Florence SuperMax prison. He was the first.
Making the story even more bizarre and impossible to script, in the summer of 2024, Guzman’s son Joaquin (let’s call him “Guzman Jr.”) surrendered to US authorities— after kidnapping and drugging his father’s old partner and the cartel’s co-founder, Zambada. Guzman Jr. flew Zambada across the border in a private Beechcraft, giving himself up and handing the groggy, “uncatchable” cartel leader to waiting US authorities like a late Christmas present.
It should have been bigger news. The FBI even donated the plane, a Beechcraft King Air, to a museum.
Guzmán Jr. has pleaded guilty to racketeering and kidnapping (irony alert) and is still cooperating. As of now, he has not yet been sentenced; he remains in U.S. custody awaiting that hearing. No sentencing date has been set. Various outlets speculate he will “avoid a life sentence” for cooperating. He’s been very helpful.
But wait. There’s one more. Another Guzman son, Ovidio, was turned over by Mexico to the US and pleaded guilty last summer, too.
…”
{ https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/basket-weavers-monday-july-20-2026 }
Isnt the us dependent upon canada and mexico for heavy crude oil?
no
From what I have read the US consumes 20 million bpd and we produce 13.5 bpd. The deficit comes from Canada, Mexico and the Gulf States. Also, much of the oil we produce is light and not suited for our consumption so we export that and import other weights.
Correct.
We are dependent on sour crude which is needed for production of diesel and jet fuel. 70 – 80% comes from Canadian Tar sands, the remaining 20 – 30% comes from the Gulf and Venezuela. You can not refine diesel and jet fuel from sweet crude which is what the US produces from its fields.
I’m not sure about Mexico. Maybe their fields are also sweet crude. If so, we are not dependent on Mexico.
Walmart and Walton family are one of the biggest importers of Mexican Produce….. can anyone connect the dots with inflated prices to hurt Trump/ GOP yet? They know if the Democrats get back in the flood gates will open just like under Bidet.
You can find Mexican produce everywhere .
It’s good to be clear….
DEI hires/ GPA 1.5-college-graduates at the FDA “made a mistake”…
{ https://notthebee.com/article/fda-says-taylor-farms-lettuce-recall-was-based-on-false-positive-source-of-diarrhea-outbreak-remains-unknown }
However…
I agree the US money spigot to Mexico needs turned OFF until they get the message we’re done entertaining their criminals.
Switching to canned or frozen veggies right now might not be a bad idea, grow our own if you can…too hot in Phoenix now.
WITH DEFERENCE TO WORDMAN:
<….not allow any Mexican “LETTUCE”….into America>
Lettuce agree to disagree!
It’s a fine line between having a Somalian Mexico and a Mexico that is somewhat stable. I trust Trump to find the right balance behind the scenes, to develop a more stable Mexico, not controlled by cartels.
Iran aska 10 day ceasefire to re-group.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mediators-float-10-day-ceasefire-pezeshkian-tells-citizens-iran-engaged-full-scale-war
lol – the article literally says that iran RECEIVED requests to restart negotiations. they didnt ask.
Iran says that they received requests; no other information provided. Is it legitimate, or nonexistent? Maybe someone has approached them, or maybe this is Iran’s way of asking.
In a word, NO!
It could also be related to how the Mexican Government is starting to attempt to block deportations from the USA with legal action.
So, maybe we ship them to Antartica? Their choice.
BAD for PENGUINS
GOOD for KILLER WHALES
How about a massive airlift of C-17 squadrons with parachutes?
DROP ‘Em C-Rations ( sorry MREs for You Younger Folks ) on the MEXICAN OIL PLATFORMS in THE GULF of AMERICA – Problem Solved
Sheinbaum is running scared. The cartels control her and Mexico in general, yet she refuses any help from the U.S. It’s time to treat Mexico like Iran. If they don’t, the cartels will eventually take over the U.S. Not going to take long for them to do it if Democrats wind up in office. Those clowns will welcome them!
Sundance, I don’t know if you are upsetting some people in X-Universe but as soon as I clicked on the second link my X account got locked. I immediately questioned it and it was restored. But I thought that you should know.
On X, I do not post any content from my User Name account. I read, watch videos, upvote, and comment now and again. That is all. Otherwise, I lurk.
Unrelated to your post, we were just talking about this in our house this morning.
I believe there can be no doubt he has upset a whole tranche of people with his in-depth, published, evidence based dissections/eviscerations.
You can tell by the level of decibels when the sunlight hits them.
Yes. SD shows up with the receipts and real analysis. I am sure that there are some people who want to see him and the people who read his articles removed from the rest of the herd.
I think that’s a given, dear sir…
Entrepanuerial idea here…
Jim Hoft, Joe Dan Gorman and Sundance ought to start their own platform…
Power Surge
Add in Jeff Childers (Coffee and Covid News).
LOVE Coffee and Covid!! Jeff always helps me start my day with a laugh or two instead of fighting the urge to throw my laptop across the room!
No one is in the same league as Sundance. Karl at Market-Ticker is a sharp dude, but his style is different. I guess that SD prefers to fly solo anyway.
I am a regular contributor and poster to Rantburg over the years, and they have been under relentless cyber attack by Denial Of Service and other forms of blockage for months now. Conservative opinion sites are being targeted extensively by a whole range of parties on the left, in China, and proxies of the Islam-fascists in the Middle East.
I’ve been noticing that videos are extremely slow loading lately while using xcancel. Is it just me? Its all accounts, not just SD’s.
I have noticed the same.
Its not just Rubio and Vance who have begun revealing their Presidential aspirations. AOC is also running.
MichaelRapaport
@MichaelRapaport
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AOC, from the “Bronx” sounding like a southern Baptist preacher while in Memphis.
https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2026/07/19/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-deploys-southern-accent-tennessee-campaign-justin-pearson/
It’s likely there will be at least a couple of dozen from that side throwing their hat in.
I think the DNC will install Rahm Emanuel on the ballot in 2028. He gave his initial campaign speech while in Israel a couple of weeks ago.
Like the shampoo bottles that Senator Kennedy spoke of…
Will her ballots have detailed instructions?
An observation…she has evidenced some ‘growth’ in the content of her speeches. Is Bernie schooling her?
Please nominate her.
Saw that. She’s quite the actress.
If we do not fix our elections now, there is good chance that she is our next puppet-in-chief.
Investors have grown bored with the war. Trump can continue with targeted degradations with a big yawn by investors. I would credit Trump with figuring this out.
Depends on whether or not PJDT is receiving true & ACCURATE information from inside Iran, imo.
Re the Asean and region: Rubio (and Trump) sh/could pay more attention to our Pacific territories like the Northern Mariana islands, etc. while he is in that area. These islands, along with Manilla are key to strategy and tactical ability in case of conflict.
Samoa is where the China people go to have a baby, the cherry on top is the kid becomes a U.S. citizen!
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/19/us-news/us-territory-where-thousands-of-chinese-moms-give-birth-to-american-babies/
Yep, Guam is where they go. Even the frickin’ Taiwanese are in on it. I know first hand. Been there many times.
If USA citizens were not such enthusiastic consumers of narcotics, there would be no cartels.
The consumers drive that business.
You cannot end the suppliers as long as there are customers.
Americans drive that business by their urge to use those drugs and buy the sex slaves from the cartels.
Make them stop, and there will be no cartels.
Their business is no different than any other business. People stopped going to Blockbuster Video, and they disappeared.
Maybe drug addicts in the USA could be euthanized; that would end the cartels.
Going after the suppliers is not the only solution. Rehab is BS; it never works. Ending addicts works.
OD is the solution
By all means, destroy the existing suppliers and their armies.
They also grow weed inside USA national parks and fabricate fentanyl inside the USA.
Do not allow anyone in that business to lawyer up or claim any sort of ”due process”.
They display their enemies in public.
You can look for the following video if you like. I saw it.
“El Guerrero” (also known as the “No Mercy in Mexico” video), a notorious and extremely violent Mexican drug cartel execution video that circulated widely on social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
In the video, a father and his son are tortured by members of a cartel (frequently attributed to the Viagras cartel or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel/CJNG). The video depicts the son being forced to watch his father’s torture, followed by the son being stripped of his facial skin and mutilated while still alive.
Our local governments have encouraged retail theft and government benefits to be a permanent lifestyle which works beautifully for drug addicts and freeloaders.
We used to arrest and imprison habitual criminals so at least, they could detox in prison and maybe, have a chance to be sober once they were released. But, at least they were out of polite society, off of our streets, and out of parks and retail stores for a while.
It is True – Boycott is the most efficient way – evaporate demand to end a flow of supply. They do it BECAUSE it’s profitable.
I was ignored when I said this months ago when POTUS started blowing up the boats.
As long as there is demand there will be opportunists who will chase the profit – *follow the money* – by providing supply.
Effective methods exist for neutralizing addictions (nobody has to be snuffed out) – but these efficiently effective methods are not profitable to the profiteers here who milk & grift the addiction-treatment-& drug-market.
Which is why mass trauma is imposed on US – it makes people so stressed & weakened they turn to drugs; both street drugs & patent drugs… psych drugs in particular.
Vicious cycle *totally man-made & deliberate*… because we have *parasites* on US.
Wish they could implant a narcotic neutralizer in some very deep part of the body.
I’m sure as hell not going to want to pay for that as a taxpayer even though it will likely end up subsidizing it anyway if it were to exist. To much money in treatments and not in cures.
Narcan is expensive enough for first responders to have to use on addicts who are repeatedly overdosing.
They potentially grow weed on all public lands (Forest Service, BLM), not just our national parks.
“OD is the solution”
To wish this on anyone is beyond the pale.
There are no easy answers, but this is not it.
In the wise words of Nancy Reagan, “Just say NO to drugs”. Simplistic; however, it has worked for me. I have always said NO to drugs and never had a problem with…drugs. It would be impossible to get all Americans off illegal drugs, unless they all died from taking them.
If in the late 50s and 60sthere was no Operation MKUltra, CHAOS, or the like; if there wasn’t a direct attack on the American family and church–especially the black–if there was no effort to destroy the American education system, etc, etc., there would not have been a large demand in the first place.
One of the things that I truly regret is falling for that crap as a teenager; I cannot imagine how effective it is a quarter of a century later.
Bring God back, bring back education that teaches people to think for themselves, and continue to attack both demand and supply sides, this problem is with us for awhile.
If we taught the Bible in school many of our social ills would be gone.
🫂🙏❤️
The easy way to eliminate the drug trade is to remove the profit from the sale of drugs. Make them free to anyone, anytime. OTOH, that’s kinda’ like Belling the Cat.
Much addiction is a symptom of spiritual sickness.
Millions have recovered after asking God for help and fellowship in a church or AA.
Same with much mental illness.
Many don’t agree with me but I am proof.
As are many in our family.
Again, not for everyone and it is not easy.
God can heal what humans cannot.
We were made to be His family, a part of.
Looks like we will have to send missile strikes on the Cartels very soon
Amazing how Tom Clancy foretold this – Clear and Present Danger
SAME PLAYERS – but NOW including the Mexicans
i Wonder IF Willem Dafoe is Interested in HELPING CLEAN UP the Agency that he played for in the Movie ?
” WAR On DRUGS ” —> 1971 til ?
ie.
Pretty Good Synopsis _
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs
To state the obvious- the designation of cartels is the first step in what will become hot – they will go down fighting- and nothing short of eliminating them by force will end it.
I believe President Trump has created a conundrum for FIFA; the peons got squashed.
The Cartels are funding lawyers to defend immigrants detained by ICE as well as paying for lawfare attacks in the US Court System and lobby congress to stop immigration (and related drug and human trafficking) law enforcement actions.
The President of Mexico publicly announced her “government” was taking these actions, last week. Geee, just like the Canadians.
Also, don’t discount the Cartels putting pressure on the Mexican Government to back track on the bi-lateral Trade Agreement talks they have been conducting with the US, to join Canada’s push to keep the USMCA.
The Cartels also count Iran, China Inc., Canada and EU members among their clients.
Mexico backtracking or not matters little. President Trump is still going to kill the USMCA regardless, and when he does announce the formal withdrawal, the six month countdown begins for both Canada and Mexico.
I read thru the posts first. What is happening in Mexico is a horror, has been for too long,
Every time Marco Rubio speaks, he speaks honestly, clearly, quickly and puts up with the stupidity of the overeducated, uninformed representatives of our so-called media.
It means what we are doing is working, and that the cartels are trying to survive.
Regarding Mexico.
Were I able to have five minutes to speak with President Trump I would say this:
Cease trade negotians, lock down the border and halt all traffic into the US, and tax remitttances at 75% until the narcoterrorists are either dead or in jail with life sentences and their assets seized.
We are headed to war with Mexico if Sheinbaum continues to shelter the narcoterrorists and provide aide and comfort to Mexican illegals arrested here.
Going to be quite ugly with another Mexican-American War.
Asymmetrical warfare is the best they can do against a much superior force from the US.
Potentially 1.5 million U.S. citizen expats living in Mexico. The number could be larger than that. If the President went that route, they would have to issue a statement to U.S. citizens to come home. I can’t see that going very well on any side.
Stop the wealthy American’s from visiting their resorts too…. that’s also where a lot of Cash is flowing!
Thankfully, information security around the SOS’s actions seems to remain very tight.
Of course, “information security” is critically important to THIS role in particular! Loose Lips Sink Ships.
Mexico is much the same as El Salvador was. A narco terrorist state in which people were largely divided into those who joined the cartels, and those who kept their heads down and hoped to survive it all. Mexico needs a Nayib Bukele, or they need the US to conduct no prisoners warfare against the cartels inside Mexico.
The more I hear and see Marco Rubio the more I like. Only nag is his time on the SSCI. In the long run will that be a good thing if he is president one day? Or a big negative?
Mexico: Our 52nd state.
Rubio will be the next President of The United States.
Manila weather today, rain with a high of 92°.
Thank goodness for air conditioning.
Interesting comment by Rubio at the very end as he walked off for the plane:
He said, “Hurry up and file your stories before you lose WiiFi.”