Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks the International Boundary and Water Commission intervention.US troops appeared to arrive this week on a beach in northeast Mexico where they installed signs declaring the area “restricted” by the US Department of Defense.
Trump and his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, have been engaged in a back-and-forth war of words over the threat of US strikes on what it says are drug cartels in Mexico.
On Monday, unidentified men arrived via boat at a beach in northeast Mexico, where they planted signs in the sand reading: “Warning: Restricted Area” in English and Spanish.
The precise location of the beach has not been confirmed by either side, but a video circulating on social media and local news purports to show Mexican marines removing the signs. The video is described as footage from a beach frequented by locals and fishermen, known as Playa Bagdad, in an area where the Rio Grande, a river which originates in south-central Colorado in the US, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Al Jazeera has not been able to verify this video.
The signs stated that the area was Department of Defense property and had been declared restricted by “the commander”. They also stated that “unauthorized entry is prohibited” and “if you are found here, you may be detained and searched”. They additionally prohibited photography or drawings.
The Gulf of Mexico is bound by Cuba; eastern states of Mexico, including Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo; and states on the Gulf Coast of the US: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
In January, Trump signed an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which was rejected by Mexico. The change has been reflected on Google Maps for users in the US.
Late on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the navy had removed the signs because they were on Mexican territory.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) would get involved to resolve the dispute. “The river changes its course, it breaks loose, and according to the treaty, you have to clearly demarcate the national border,” she said during her daily news briefing.
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The most recent treaty the IBWC oversaw was signed in Mexico in 1970 to resolve boundary disputes and maintain the Rio Grande and the Colorado as the international boundary.
The IBWC’s role is to enforce these treaties.
So, has the US violated any of these treaties?
It appears so. “The agency or contractor who placed the signs is in clear violation of the 1970 Boundary Treaty,” Stephen Mumme, a professor at Colorado State University, told Al Jazeera. “The boundary is set at middle of the most substantial and deepest channel of the river as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The mouth of the river does fluctuate according to river flows, erosion, and siltation,” said Mumme, who specialises in US-Mexican water and environmental relations.
Both the US and Mexican governments and agencies are obliged to consult the IBWC prior to undertaking any project or construction that might plausibly involve or affect the international boundary.
“Mexico was completely within its rights to remove the signs and lodge complaints with the US State Department,” Mumme said.
On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Mexico shared a comment from the Pentagon, stating that US “contractors” had placed signs beside the Rio Grande, marking “National Defense Area III”.
“Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary’s location,” the statement said. “Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary’s location.”
The Pentagon added that the contractors would work with “appropriate agencies to avoid confusion in the future”.
National Defense Areas (NDAs) are US military zones along the US-Mexico border, managed by the Defense Department.
On May 1 this year, the US Northern Command announced that a new 260-mile (418km) NDA had been established along the southern border of Texas with Mexico.
“The establishment of a National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” the release quoted General Gregory Guillot, the commander of the Northern Command.
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The US has deployed a large military force, including B‑52 bombers and elite special operations troops, to the Caribbean in recent months, citing security concerns and the threat of an “invasion” by Venezuelan drug gangs. Trump is also considering land attacks in Venezuela to curb the flow of illegal drugs and has authorised CIA covert operations in Venezuela for the same purpose.
Since September 2, the US has conducted at least 21 military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing about 80 people. Now, Trump seems to have turned his attention to Mexico.
On Monday, Trump threatened to launch strikes on drug cartels in Mexico.
“Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” Trump told a reporter during an Oval Office meeting between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there.”
During her daily press briefing on Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday about possible US intervention in Mexico. “It’s not going to happen,” she said.
Sheinbaum said she had told Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio multiple times during telephone conversations that Mexico does not want US intervention on Mexican soil.
“He has suggested on several occasions or has said, ‘We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups’,” she explained.
Sheinbaum said she would accept collaboration and intelligence sharing with the US military, but she reiterated that no outside intervention would be permitted in the country.
“We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government,” Sheinbaum continued. “I’ve told him on the phone. I’ve said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/19/restricted-did-us-troops-try-to-cordon-off-a-mexican-beach