A report in the New York Times states that President Donald Trump secretly signed an order authorizing the use of military force against “certain Latin American drug cartels.” These cartels were previously designated by President Trump and the U.S. Department of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
The Times says the action “signals Mr. Trump’s continued willingness to use military forces to carry out what has primarily been considered a law enforcement responsibility to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs.”
The newspaper cites “people familiar with the matter” and says the order provides an official basis for direct military operations at sea or on foreign soil against cartels.
The Times reports:
U.S. military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the groups, the people familiar with the conversations said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations.
But directing the military to crack down on the illicit trade also raises legal issues, including whether it would count as “murder” if U.S. forces acting outside of a congressionally authorized armed conflict were to kill civilians — even criminal suspects — who pose no imminent threat.
It is unclear what White House, Pentagon and State Department lawyers have said about the new directive or whether the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has produced an authoritative opinion assessing the legal issues.
The U.S. government has already had various drones overflying cartel operations and has expanded its intelligence operations in Mexico; however, the order could open the door for drone strikes or for special operations groups to operate and capture cartel figures in Mexico and other countries like Venezuela.
The order comes soon after the U.S. Government designated Venezuela’s Cartel De Los Soles as a terrorist group. As Breitbart Texas has reported, the criminal organization is allegedly led by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and several key figures within that country’s military and government.
In the case of Mexico, earlier this year, the U.S. government designated six drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and since then, the Trump administration has threatened Mexico with tariffs in an attempt to force the government to crack down on drug cartels. However, as Breitbart Texas has reported, one of the key obstacles is that Mexico’s political elite is tied to those criminal organizations and has been protecting them all along.
One of the clearest examples of cartel military power took place in 2019 when, as Breitbart Texas reported, the Sinaloa Cartel invaded the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa, in response to an operation targeting one of its leaders, Ovidio “El Raton” Guzman Salazar. The cartel operation pressured Mexico’s president at the time, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to bow down to the criminal organization and order the cartel boss’s release under the excuse that he was trying to avoid future bloodshed.
Breitbart Texas’s Cartel Chronicles Project recently reported the idea of using military force against certain drug cartels could “make Mexico great again.”
The analysis revealed:
The idea that the U.S. could take direct military action against the Mexican drug cartels in Mexico has long been contemplated by many. Drone strikes could target cartel leaders, their security forces, and their manufacturing facilities, like the U.S. Reaper drones in Afghanistan were used to destroy the Taliban drug facilities. Although U.S. military action without Mexico’s consent could spark outrage in Mexico’s government, many Mexican citizens are clamoring for U.S. boots on the ground in Mexico. They are overjoyed at the prospect of regaining their country and making Mexico great again.
…
Mexican cartels joined the list of foreign terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS with this new designation. The designation makes it easier politically for President Trump to send U.S troops to Mexico without the approval of Congress. The designation will target criminal organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel. Under U.S. law, this designation allows the U.S. government to freeze cartel assets, ban travel, and penalize top-tier cartel members. When asked if U.S. forces could be sent to Mexico. Trump did say that it could happen. We’ll just have to wait and see.
It is not clear where, when, or how the use of military force may begin against the cartels designated as foreign terrorist groups.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Additional information will be added or updated as it becomes available
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