Image by Robbie Herrera.

A storm is brewing in U.S.–Mexico relations, and its epicenter is the newly appointed U.S. ambassador: Ronald Johnson, a former Green Beret and CIA operative with deep ties to U.S. military interventions in Central America. Johnson arrived in Mexico City on May 15 and presented his diplomatic credentials to President Claudia Sheinbaum on May 19, triggering alarm among activists, political observers, and civil society leaders on both sides of the border.

To many, Johnson’s appointment is not just a diplomatic formality — it’s a signal. “It’s a declaration of war, basically, on Mexico,” said Marco Castillo, Co-Executive Director of Global Exchange, during a recent episode of the podcast WTF Is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean. “It feels like one step before Trump attempts to set foot in Mexico.”

A Familiar Face From a Violent Past

Johnson’s résumé reads like a blueprint for interventionism. In the 1980s, he worked with right-wing paramilitary groups in El Salvador and Panama. His associations include relationships with controversial U.S.-backed figures accused of human rights abuses during Reagan’s Central American “Dirty Wars”. During the first Trump Administration, Johnson served as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador (2019-2021), developing a close relationship with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele

“To those of us who worked in Central America in the 1980s, he’s a figure that’s never really gone away,” said WTF co-host and activist Teri Mattson. “This is a profound message Trump is sending to Mexico and the region.”

Observers draw parallels between Johnson’s arrival and a larger arc of escalating U.S. hostility toward Mexico that began years ago. Mattson recalled a WTF episode from April 2022 titled Challenging the U.S. Narrative on Mexico, which chronicled rising anti-Mexico sentiment in U.S. media, including opposition to Mexican energy reforms and false claims tying cartels to U.S. military hardware sent to Ukraine.

“Johnson is not an aberration — he’s the culmination,” said Mattson. “He’s the endpoint of a continuum that began at least in 2021.”

A Pattern of........

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