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 Placed Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, without offering details, that groups had committed or put a risk of committing “acts of terrorism that threaten the security of American nationals or national security, politics foreign or economy of the United States “.
Some experts say that the open language could be used by Trump to justify vast presidential powers and policies previously considered to be out of limits, such as military strikes on Mexican territory or the stripping of migrants from their right to regular procedure.
The eight groups appointed in Wednesday’s opinion are the Tren of Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13), cartel of Sinaloa, cartel of Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Cartles Unidos, Cartel de Narste, Cartel del Golfo And the Nueva Familia Michoacana.
While these groups commit acts of violence and exploitation, experts say that cartels are motivated by commercial interests instead of political or ideological reasons generally attributed to terrorist groups.
“The United States is already taking a lot of 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 program at Washington Office On 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 crossing Mexico and other countries in Latin America are forced to pay fees and “taxes” to criminal groups, which extract 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 as “invasion” to promote a hard approach to immigration.
The Trump Administration previously threatened to use the Extraterrestrial Enemies Act of 1798 – a law which allows presidents to immediately deport the citizens of an “enemy nation” during war – to carry out mass deportations to states -Unis.
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 approach a “national emergency” of “gang members, smugglers, traficeers of human beings and illegal drugs and Narcotic drugs of all kinds ”which enter 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 said that the Mexican government had an” intolerable alliance “with the cartels. Does this 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.”
