Jesse Watters accused the Mexican government of being "corrupt" one day after nine American nationals were murdered by members of drug cartels only several dozen miles from the U.S. border.

Mexico is a dangerous country and the cartels effectively have the government in their pocket, Watters claimed Tuesday on "The Five."

"They tell the Mexican government officials what to do," he said.

"Many of them are on the take -- they can't control the cartels. Most of the time they don't want to. They're just dancing with the devil, it's kind of an arranged marriage."

US VICTIMS OF MEXICAN CARTELS MASSACRE RANGE FROM 8-MONTH-OLD TWINS TO 43-YEAR-OLD MOTHER

Watters pointed to the ultimately successful hunt for Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- currently imprisoned in New York -- saying the kingpin was worth about $1 billion when authorities finally corraled him.

"Our neighbors to the south are corrupt," he added.

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"I think its a dangerous country -- outside the resorts this could happen anywhere, it's not a safe place to be," he said of the murders, which occurred when a vehicle carrying women and children encountered armed cartel members in the northern part of Sonora state, near Arizona and New Mexico.

President Trump, Watters speculated, will not be apprehensive about going after the cartels.

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"It's good politics to go after the cartels. It's good policy to go after the cartels. And watch -- he'll do that and you'll see the media and the Democrats start defending drug cartels, I guarantee it."

In the wake of the murders, the State Department issued a statement saying: “The safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad is among the Department of State’s top priorities. When a U.S. citizen is missing or passes away overseas, we engage with local officials at multiple levels and provide all appropriate consular assistance."