UPDATE 2-No invasion since 1914: Mexico bristles at cartel terror designation plan by U.S.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday Mexico had not been invaded for more than a century and he would not permit another foreign intervention, reflecting tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to designate drug cartels based in Mexico as terrorist groups. Designating groups as foreign terrorist organizations is aimed at disrupting their finances through the imposition of U.S. sanctions. While it does not directly give authority for overseas military operations, many Mexicans are nervous it could lead to unilateral U.S. action against gangs.

"Since 1914 there hasn't been a foreign intervention in Mexico and we cannot permit that," Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference, referring to the U.S. occupation of the port of Veracruz 105 years ago. "Armed foreigners cannot intervene in our territory," he said, instead offering more cooperation with the United States on fighting drug gangs, which have shown their power in a series of battles with security forces and civilians in recent months.

Trump has repeatedly offered military assistance to help combat the cartels, but Mexico has consistently declined such an offer. U.S. Attorney General William Barr will visit Mexico next week to discuss further security cooperation, Mexico's foreign minister said earlier. The U.S. embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lopez Obrador was responding to comments by Trump this week that he was working to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist groups. Trump has already forced Mexico's hand on immigration after threatening to impose tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States.

Lopez Obrador buckled under the pressure and conceded to a U.S. initiative launched in January called the Migrant Protection Protocols that has forced nearly 59,000 migrants to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings. He also sent the newly formed National Guard, created to tackle Mexico's spiraling gang-fueled violence, to Mexico's borders to help stop migrants from reaching U.S. soil.

The planned Barr visit will be the highest level meeting since a gangland massacre of a U.S.-Mexican family triggered Trump's terrorist comments. "What we need to address organized crime is more mutual cooperation, not elements that will put distance between us or create hostilities ... We're obliged to give our societies results and to that end we need cooperation," Ebrard said.