U.S. designates Mexican cartels, Tren de Aragua and others as foreign terrorist organizations

[Wicked Blue]

Source: NBC

The U.S. State Department has designated Mexican drug cartels as well as MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations, according to a document that is set to be published Thursday in the Federal Register.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the designation, posted online for preview on Wednesday, which will open the door for possible financial sanctions against Tren de Aragua and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as well as the following drug cartels: Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that paved the way for the designation, blaming the cartels for “a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.”

According to the designation, dated Feb. 6, there is "sufficient factual basis" that finds the organizations engage in terrorist activity and threaten the security of U.S. nationals and/or the national security of the United States.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-designates-cartels-terrorist-organizations-rcna192826

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump wants a cut of the cartel action.

Putin has been making a fortune from the sex and drug trade.
Trump wants a piece of that too.

[JBTaurus83]

2. Trump is itching

To lob a few missiles into Mexico. It would be a media frenzy while he continues his robbery of the American people.

[tinymontgomery]

3. Didn't the President of Mexico say she was going to designate

weapon manufactures as some sort of terrorist organizations for shipping guns to Mexico?
I wonder if she'll follow through? I sure hope so.

[hueymahl]

4. This designation allows him to order air strikes

And other forms of attack. Things might get interesting!

[LeftInTX]

5. Possible Impact on US businesses

Should the Trump administration choose to use the FTO designation on major Mexican cartels, it may have impacts that have not been fully evaluated. For example, US companies operating in Mexico will need to determine whether their operations may provide “material support or resources” to the cartels—a broadly defined criterion that substantially expands the scope of penalties for violations. Similarly, insurance companies providing services to those US businesses with a presence in Mexico may reconsider their premiums—and whether they wish to further provide services at all. Mexican asylees could assert they are fleeing terrorism if they feel threatened by the cartels. Absent clear guidance from the Trump administration, financial institutions may also be put in a bind as they seek to evaluate whether financial activity involving Mexico may run afoul of the material support clause. The breadth of what may be encompassed under material support, from lodging, to guns, to “expert advice or assistance” renders compliance challenging, particularly as there’s no blacklist or other mechanism against which US companies may screen to evaluate if their funds or services involve cartel members. As such, the reverberations from an FTO designation of major Mexican cartels may be broader than intended.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/mexican-cartels-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-impact-on-us-businesses/