US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Mexico's campaign against drug cartels was "not nearly enough," warning that groups threatening the state will have to be confronted "one way or the other."
"There are territories, vast territories in Mexico that are not governed by the state," Rubio said on Wednesday, praising Mexican efforts against the cartels but insisting much more needed to be done.
Mexico's leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum has had a patchy relationship with her US counterpart Donald Trump, who has repeatedly floated the idea of US military intervention south of the border.
Washington has ratcheted up the pressure, including by indicting a Mexican state governor who is a member of Sheinbaum's ruling party.
Rubio said the cartels retained the power to challenge state authority, pointing to the killings of political candidates, judges and journalists as evidence of their influence.
He also warned that the groups pose a growing cross-border threat, citing their use of drones and sophisticated trafficking networks to move drugs and migrants.
"Our hope and our intent is to do it in partnership with Mexico. That's the ideal," the top US diplomat said during a visit to Ecuador.
"But eventually, that threat will have to be confronted one way or the other."
