If I were to ask you where all of the fentanyl flooding the United States is coming from and how it has become such a crisis, you might be tempted to say China. Or you could point the finger at the Mexican drug cartels. Both of those answers would be correct to a certain degree, though it’s a complicated situation. But according to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, neither answer is accurate. According to AMLO, the real problem is poor parenting in America. We wouldn’t be having all of these problems if American parents would hug their children more often and allow them to remain living at home with their family until they are older. This story probably sounds like it came from the pages of The Onion, but it’s actually true. You just can’t make this stuff up. (Associated Press)

Mexico’s president said Friday that U.S. families were to blame for the fentanyl overdose crisis because they don’t hug their kids enough.

The comment by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador caps a week of provocative statements from him about the crisis caused by the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels that has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.

López Obrador said family values have broken down in the United States, because parents don’t let their children live at home long enough. He has also denied that Mexico produces fentanyl.

Amazingly, despite the literal tons of fentanyl being seized at the border, AMLO also claimed that the drug isn’t being produced in Mexico. If you still needed additional proof that the Mexican president has been compromised by the cartels, look no further than this. He has given the impression of cracking down on some of the cartels while turning a blind eye to others. What we’re observing isn’t just a battle between the various cartels for control of the illegal drug trade. It’s a fight that AMLO has taken sides in.

As you may recall, earlier this month there were Republicans in Congress calling for the use of the United States military to take out some of the cartels near the border. And how did Mexico’s president respond to that? He decried the idea and insisted that we not get involved.

“We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government’s armed forces intervene,” Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference.

On one level, it’s understandable how any foreign leader would have reservations about the military of another nation entering his territory uninvited. But if AMLO was actually interested in breaking up the cartels’ operations and restoring order, he would likely welcome the help. The problem is, that’s not where his interests lie.

When the Mexican military’s computer systems were hacked last year exposing serious corruption in the upper ranks, the Defense Secretary asked to be allowed to address the public at one of AMLO’s press conferences. He was repeatedly denied the opportunity and the President basically forbid the subject from being brought up.

There is a potential solution to this situation though it’s a rather ugly one. We just had some American tourists murdered by the cartels in Mexico. It’s simply not safe to travel there at this point. The State Department should issue an advisory to all Americans in Mexico to come home and we should close the border to American traffic going into the country. Without American tourism, Mexico’s economy would quickly wither and AMLO would realize that his grip on power is slipping. That might be the only sort of action that could force Lopez Obrador to seriously address his cartel problem and start cracking down. If he does that and invites American forces to help quash the power of the drug gangs, perhaps we can return to taking him seriously as an ally.