US President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare military plans against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations, US media reported on Friday.
The move follows the designation of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and six other Latin America-based groups as foreign terrorist organizations in February.
According to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, potential measures under discussion include special forces operations and intelligence support, in coordination with foreign partners.
Trump’s ‘war’ against the cartels
In March, Trump vowed to “wage war” on drug cartels, accusing them of flooding the United States with drugs such as fentanyl.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that Trump’s “top priority is protecting the homeland,” and hence the “step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” without confirming the reports.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview the designations allow the US to “start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing organizations.”
“It’s no longer a law enforcement issue. It becomes a national security issue,” Rubio said.
The Trump administration is also targeting Venezuelan gang, the Cartel of the Suns, accusing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading that cartel. Caracas has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.
Mexico president says ‘no invasion’
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said there would be “no invasion” of her country and that the US military would not be allowed onto Mexican territory.
“We are cooperating, we are collaborating, but there will be no invasion,” she said. “That is absolutely ruled out.”
Sheinbaum also dismissed the US accusation of Maduro’s links to the Sinaloa Cartel. She said Mexico had no such evidence, and that if Washington did, it should share it.
In March, the Mexican president rejected a proposal from Trump to send US troops to Mexico to help fight drug trafficking.
“Our territory is inviolable, our sovereignty is inviolable, our sovereignty is not for sale,” Sheinbaum told Trump.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
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