The United States has appointed eight Latin American traffic and drug trafficking groups as “global terrorist organizations” in the middle of the rhetoric climbing President Donald Trump.
In a federal register notice Posed on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, without offering details, that groups have committed or put a risk of committing “acts of terrorism that threaten the security of American nationals or national security, foreign policy or the economy of the United States”.
Some experts say that the open language could be used by Trump to justify large presidential powers and policies previously considered to be out of limits, such as military strikes Mexican territory or strip migrants from their right to a regular procedure.
The eight groups named in Wednesday’s opinion are the Tren of Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13), Sinaloa cartel, Jalisco Nueva Geneva, Unidos Cartel, Cartel de Narste, Cartel del Golfo and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.
While these groups commit acts of violence and exploitationExperts say that cartels are motivated by commercial interests instead of political or ideological reasons generally attributed to terrorist groups.
“The United States already has many actions against these groups. They examine them, sanction them and pursue their members before the court. This decision will therefore not change much in terms of tools they have at their disposal, “said Stephanie Brewer, director of the Mexico research program at the Washington Office On Latin America (Wola), a research group based in the United States.
“I think it is worrying that it happens in the context of the rhetoric of the White House which confuses migration with crime, drugs and, now, terrorism.”
Immigration repression
Many immigrants passing through Mexico and other countries in Latin America are forced to pay fees and “taxes” to criminal groups, which extort migrants and smugglers.
Will Freeman, a scholarship holder for Latin America is studying at the Council for Foreign Relations, says that the fact could be used by the administration to affirm that immigrants provide material and financial support to terrorist organizations.
“You can accuse anyone- a migrant who pays a passer to a Mexican company forced to pay” protective costs “- to provide material or financial support to a terrorist organization,” he said.
He also noted that one of the most powerful criminal groups in the Americas, the first command of capital in Brazil, does not appear on the list.
“I wonder if the line line here is that many named groups are involved in immigration routes,” he said.
The White House has frequently used irregular migration representations such as “invasion” to promote a hard approach to immigration.
The Trump administration previously threatened to use the extraterrestrial enemies law of 1798 – a law This allows presidents to immediately deport the citizens of an “enemy nation” in times of war – to carry out mass deportations in the United States.
Earlier this month, Trump too said That the imposition of steep prices in Mexico, Canada and China – another promise of its presidential campaign – was necessary to tackle a “national emergency” of “gang members, smugglers, traffickers of illegal and drugs of all kinds” in the United States.
Strike on Mexico
Terrorist designations have also renewed the concerns that the United States could carry out military operations in Mexican territory.
“Trump previously declared that the Mexican government had an” intolerable alliance “with the cartels. Does it mean that the United States now believes that the Mexican government is collaborating with terrorism?” asked the brewer.
After the announcement of the Order, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and an ally of Trump who adopted his nativist vision, said in an article on social networks that the order meant that groups were now “eligible for drone strikes”.
But Brewer and Freeman both say that, although the fight against criminal groups that cause violence and conflicts through the Americas is a valid objective, this requires more than difficult discussions and a military firepower.
“To continue these groups, you must continue their finances, their arms supplies, their corrupt partnerships with the government authorities,” said Freeman. “And if you choose fights with governments throughout Latin America, it would seem to cut against these efforts.”
