MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said on Saturday he would get the U.S. military involved in Mexico’s war with drug cartels, in comments likely to upset the Mexican government.

The remarks appear to be a new misstatement on foreign policy by Perry, the Texas governor who is struggling to hold on to the mantle of frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Perry said that as president he would work with Mexico in the same way that the United States has worked with Colombia to combat drug cartels.