Unauthorized US signs on Mexican beach along Texas border lead to international dispute

A surprising discovery on the Mexican side of the border just across from Texas is raising concerns about what could be a growing international incident. This comes just one day after President Trump said he would consider authorizing military action inside Mexico to stop drug trafficking.

We have exclusive video showing Mexican Marines pulling down warning signs in Mexico that some say were placed there by the US.

“Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? It’s okay with me,” said President Trump. “Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. Mexico is, look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there.”

Twenty-four hours after those comments, Mexican media is reporting an unusual incident on the coast of Mexico and the US where the Rio Grande flows into the Gulf. We have obtained exclusive video from the environmental agency Conibio Global where you can see Mexican Marines removing a line of boundary-style warning signs that suddenly appeared on Mexican land. An area known as Playa Bagdad.

We are told that the people who allegedly placed the signs came from the US side of the border and can be seen in photos. The signs read “This is a restricted area and property of the Department of Defense.” It also states that “unauthorized entry is prohibited,” and “if you are found here you may be detained and searched.”

Within hours, Mexican Marines began taking the signs down from the beach that is frequented by Mexican beach goers and fishermen.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government asked the consulate and the US Embassy about this. At first both said it wasn’t the US. President Sheinbaum said a US office later admitted it hired a company to put up the signs, arguing the river shifts with sediment and the treaty requires the boundary to be clearly redefined.

“I am perplexed why any US agency would put that there, unless there’s been some designation of a military security zone around there that we are ignorant of,” said Professor Geoffrey Corn from Texas Tech University School of Law.

Professor Corn says a sign like that can only be placed for one of two reasons, but never on sovereign Mexican soil.

“That means a security regulation promulgated by the Secretary of Defense related to a military facility, or it could be by NASA or one of the subordinate military departments. It makes no sense to me why that sign would be at that location,” said Professor Corn.

On a beach split by the international line, what happened may seem small. But to both governments, it now represents a much larger issue: who controls this stretch of coastline?

Tags: