An American military air shot in the international waters of the South Caribbean, which, according to the Trump administration, killed 11 members of the Tren of Aragua organization “narco-terrorist”, is a worrying deadly climbing in the current “war against drugs”.
We demyston the myths that Tren of Aragua is either a terrorist group, or involved in the international drug sector, and we wonder if these extrajudicial murders could establish a dangerous precedent in a region currently plagued by drug -related violence.
Deborah: (00:00:03) You look at Insight's crime, my name is Deborah Bonello. I am the editor -in -chief and I speak to one of the co -directors of Insight Crime, Steve Dudley. Steve, we saw an American air shot yesterday in the international waters of the South of the Caribbean, claiming to withdraw 11 members of the Tren of Aragua organization “narco-terrorist”.
Now, first of all, it does not seem to be unprecedented, but extremely rare in anti -narcotic operations – we are mainly talking about extrajudicial murders against what even Southcom admitted was an alleged ship of drug trafficking. What is your opinion about it?
Steven: (00:00:40) Yes, I think what we are is a new world in the sense that their decision to continue what would be a drug trafficking ship without any clear idea of the place where this ship was directed, which was on the ship and which was on the ship is a new territory for the United States. This does not mean that this may not have happened in other cases, and indeed, we know that this has happened in other cases. And in these cases, we have seen enormous repercussions. I think back to a time in Honduras where some DEA agents were linked to an assault – also on a moving boat, this time in a river, in a coastal province – and there have been huge repercussions, all kinds of investigations and other things related to that.
In this case, we do not expect any of this. In addition, this is a situation in which they claim that a criminal group, in this case, the Tren of Aragua, deals with drugs internationally. We have been following this group since it started – so over 10 years. And it is not an international drug trafficking organization. He has never been an international drug trafficking organization. Thus, sitting there and asserting that this particular criminal organization deployed drugs in what is in particular a sophisticated way in international waters led to the United States is at the limit of the absurd.
Deborah: (00:02:27) And do you think that this type of operation will have an impact on the international drug trafficking company in Latin America in one way or another?
Steven: (00:02:36) The idea that you can take the army, any soldier and going after these criminal organizations is also really – simply leave the word absurd – but it is a very difficult perspective. And it is difficult because these organizations are not descending superstructures. They are not integrated vertically. These are very dispersed and cowardly networks. And in the case of the Tren of Agua, in addition to not being an international drug trafficking organization, it is also much more a brand than that of a consolidated criminal organization. It has a number of different cells that are operational in different countries, including a very low presence of a very low imprint in the United States. But nothing is executed from a single operational seat with a clear order and control.
Deborah: (00:03:47) Yeah. I mean, I think the impact I can see in this region is that the Trump administration gives the other nations in Latin America a green light, right? The United States has always set the tone for the drug war, because we saw it working with Colombia and Mexico for decades in the region. And we also see countries like the Dominican Ecuador and the Republic following the American example to designate organizations as a terrorist organization – I think that today, the Dominican Republic has taken on board to designate the Cartel of Suns, another Venezuelan criminal group, as terrorists. So, could we start to see the tastes of Ecuador and Mexico and Colombia start to make air strikes on trafficking networks, now that they see that the United States thinks that it is okay?
Steven: (00:04:39) Look, the idea of designating groups as narco-terrorists is not new. It dates back to the 1980s, to be fair to the Trump administration. And it was a period in which the United States was looking for a path to go after insurrections, especially insurrections like the FARC and ELN in Colombia. It is therefore not new. But the word terrorism, as you note, does a ton of work in this particular body and gives all kinds of higher covers, not only for the United States, but for any other country that wants to start targeting anyone and designating them as terrorists without much preamble or, apparently, of evidence. So yes, once again, it's a kind of license. It is a kind of green light that will certainly be watched by other governments. And so we will see how it takes place, but, but certainly, as you note, it could open the door to many other operations around regions by other governments.
Deborah: (00:05:57) This is definitely an evolving situation, and for those who look, if you want the background and the history of anti-narcotic operations in the region, then you are in the right place, and you can find all this on the archives of insightcrime.org. Thank you for watching everyone.
