Trump plan to tag drug cartels as terrorists angers Mexico
DONALD TRUMP’S proposal to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups yesterday prompted a furious rebuke from Mexican officials, who accused him of undermining the country’s sovereignty.
The US president revealed during a Fox News interview that he had been working on the plans, which would give the US greater scope to impose harsher penalties on cartel members and their associates, for three months
“I’ve actually offered [the Mexican president] to let us go in and clean it out, and he’s so far rejected the offer,” Mr Trump said.
Marcelo Ebrard, the Mexican foreign minister, was quick to reject the plan, writing on Twitter: “Mexico will never admit any action that would be a violation of its national sovereignty.
“We will act firmly. I have transmitted our position to the US, as well as our resolve to face international organised crime. Mutual respect is the basis for co-operation.”
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came to power in Mexico last year on a platform to end the heavy death toll caused by the cartels.
His “hugs, not bullets” policy, addressing the social causes of the violence, appears to be failing, with this year on track to be one of the bloodiest in the country’s history.
However, the Mexican president this week restated his opposition to foreign intrusion in the war on drugs. He said: “Our problems will be solved by Mexicans. We don’t want any interference from any foreign country.”
He stressed the point again yesterday, saying he was open to “cooperation” but not to “intervention”.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry said it would seek a high-level meeting with US State Department officials to address the issue as well as the flow of arms and money to organised crime.
A cartel being designated as a terrorist organisation would make it illegal under US law for individuals in the US to offer support. Members of a terrorist organisation cannot enter the US and may be deported if found there.
The terrorist designation could also be used as a means to combat the lucrative trade of weapons across the Usmexico border, with the Mexican government estimating that around 80 per cent of the weapons used by cartels originate in the US.
Financial institutions that become aware they have funds connected to a group labelled a terrorist organisation are also required to block the money and alert the US Treasury Department.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump offered in a tweet to help Mexico “wage war on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth” in the aftermath of the killings of three women and six children with dual Us-mexican citizenship in northern Mexico.