Former assistant secretary of state: Cartels testing Mexican president's 'limits' with attack on Americans
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles said on Wednesday that Monday's massacre in Mexico, in which nine Americans were gunned down by sicarios on Monday. is a challenge to the rule of law and a test to the limits of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“They are trying to see what his limits are, whether he will respond, whether he will allow them to take control of their geographic corridors,” said Charles, who served under former Secretary of State Colin Powell, on “America’s Newsroom.”
TOM HOMAN ON MURDERS OF AMERICANS: DRUG CARTELS 'CONTROL EVERYTHING' NEAR US BORDER
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A suspect was arrested Wednesday near the Arizona border with Mexico in connection with the deaths.
Charles said that the killings “reflect an endemic problem in Mexico.” He said that there are four violent drug cartels who have powerful weaponry, including surface-to-air missiles.
"President Trump is not wrong to describe it in some ways as a war," he explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They have a challenge on their hands and they need to confront it directly,” Charles said.
The victims’ convoy came under fire in an ambush by gunmen believed to be affiliated with a drug cartel in Mexico.
MEXICAN CARTEL MASSACRE: 9 AMERICANS, INCLUDING 6 CHILDREN, FROM MORMON OFFSHOOT MURDERED
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Agency for Criminal Investigation said in a statement on Facebook that a suspect was found in the town of Agua Prieta, right across the border from Douglas, Ariz. The suspect was holding two hostages who were bound and gagged inside a vehicle.
All the victims were believed to be members of the extended LeBaron family, who live in a religious community in La Mora, northern Mexico, a decades-old settlement in Sonora state founded as part of an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We ought to be joining up with Mexico in trying to get rid of these bad actors. They are truly horrific actors and they challenge the rule of law in Mexico and, ultimately, they’re going to challenge it here,” Charles said.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.