The "hugs not bullets" security strategy introduced by Mexico's former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to tackle criminal violence at its roots failed, US ambassador Ken Salazar said Wednesday.

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said on Wednesday that the country is not safe and criticized the previous president for a failed security policy and refusing to accept American assistance.

For the last six years, Mexico bragged about its oft-questioned policy of “hugs, not bullets,” in which the country’s leaders avoided confrontations with drug cartels that were gradually taking control of large parts of the country.

Mexico's "hugs not bullets" security strategy of tackling criminal violence at its roots has failed, US ambassador Ken Salazar said Wednesday, in unusually blunt remarks that upset the Mexican government.