The visit to Mexico by U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump has drawn sharp criticism from former Mexican President Vicente Fox, the same politician who allowed drug cartels to expand exponentially in size and power under his watch.

Since news of Trump’s visit to Mexico began to spread, Fox has been openly criticizing the event, Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto–even though he had previously invited the Republican candidate to visit, Breitbart News reported.

The criticism by Fox comes as Mexico continues to experience unprecedented levels of cartel violence that the Mexican government has not been able to address. In the border state of Tamaulipas, the Los Zetas cartel has been waging an internal war for control of lucrative drug trafficking territories, Breitbart Texas previously reported. This warring between rival cartel factions has resulted in almost daily large scale cartel gun battles, beheadings, dismemberments and other gory executions.

The cartel violence appears to not be a concern for Fox who, as Breitbart Texas previously reported, has called for Mexico to open negotiations with cartel leaders.

The comments made by Fox have rapidly earned him harsh criticism from Mexican citizens since the lack of a comprehensive security strategy by Fox during his term gave Mexican drug cartels six years to grow and expand with little to no opposition from authorities. The lack of action allowed drug cartels to develop and arm large armies of foot soldiers known for their ruthlessness, such as the Los Zetas drug cartel.

Fox’s lack of action against cartels led to his successor, Felipe Calderon, to mobilize the Mexican military to patrol the streets and fight the cartels head on, a–move that engendered harsh criticism from pundits over the uptick in violence. Calderon’s need for military forces was due to the widespread corruption that had overtaken the Mexican government and its state level security forces.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.