US President-elect Donald Trump Plans to Designate Mexican Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
As part of his plan to “wage war” on Mexico’s cartels, President-elect Donald Trump intends to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Trump claims that this move will address the fentanyl crisis in the US, but experts argue that it will not provide the US with many more tools to combat organized crime and may instead be a thinly veiled threat to encourage Mexico to take more action.
The designation, which is part of Trump’s plan to “call out” the cartels, has been met with a stern rebuke from Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has rejected the idea, stating that Mexico is a “free, sovereign, independent country” and will not be subject to US interference.
Designating the cartels as FTOs may not have a significant impact on the US’s ability to combat organized crime, as the US already has a range of tools at its disposal to target transnational organized crime groups. However, it could have unintended consequences, such as the use of military force against Mexican territory.
Some experts fear that the designation could be a first step towards US military action in Mexico, with potential targets including drug labs and cartel leaders. This mirrors Mexico’s own militarized “war on drugs,” which has been criticized for its lack of success in reducing the flow of drugs to the US and for its human rights violations.
Instead of designating the cartels as FTOs, experts suggest that the US and Mexico should focus on reducing arms trafficking and hitting cartel finances, which could be achieved through the use of sophisticated anti-money laundering instruments and foreign asset control regulations.
