Amid the raging opioid crisis in the US, Donald Trump, during his stint as POTUS, mulled placing Mexico’s cartels on America’s blacklist of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. At the time, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador warned that, “Armed foreigners cannot intervene in our territory. We will not allow that.”
From \u201ccyber warfare\u201d to sending in \u201cspecial forces\u201d to target cartel leaders in Mexico, prominent Republicans are increasingly embracing the notion that extreme measures must be employed to tackle the raging opioid crisis in the US.
Drug cartels reportedly control upwards of a third of Mexico’s territory, and to take them out of the equation would require a lot more than the \u201cweak\u201d border policy espoused by the Biden administration, according to Congressman Mike Waltz (R-Fla.)
\u201cWe need to start thinking about these groups more like ISIS* than we do the mafia,\u201d Waltz, said in an interview for US media.
Over 107,000 Americans met an untimely death in 2021 as a result of overdosing either on illicit drugs or prescription opioids. Two-thirds of those fatalities have been attributed to the painkiller fentanyl, which is far more toxic and deadlier than heroin. Judging by data presented by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in December 2022, \u201cmost\u201d of the fentanyl pouring in is being distributed by two Mexican cartels, with the required chemicals \u201csourced largely from China.\u201d
Together with Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Waltz earlier introduced a bill that would authorize the use of certain US military capabilities against the drug cartels in Mexico.
\u201cThey are defeating the Mexican army. These are paramilitary entities with billions and billions at their disposal,\u201d Waltz stated.
When introducing legislation for creating the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Rep. Crenshaw said:
\u201cThe cartels are war with us \u2013 poisoning more than 80,000 Americans with fentanyl every year, creating a crisis at our border, and turning Mexico into a failed narco-state. It\u2019s time we directly target them. My legislation will put us at war with the cartels by authorizing the use of military force against the cartels. We cannot allow heavily armed and deadly cartels to destabilize Mexico and import people and drugs into the United States. We must start treating them like ISIS \u2013 because that is who they are.\u201d
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul (R-Texas) is reportedly \u201cstill evaluating\u201d the AUMF bill, \u201cbut has concerns about the immigration implications and the bilateral relationship with Mexico,\u201d a GOP source on the panel was cited as saying.
Previously Donald Trump, when he was POTUS, mulled placing Mexico’s drug cartels on the State Department\u2019s terrorist blacklist. Now, amid his emerging campaign for another term in the White House, Trump has purportedly been deliberating with policy advisers on any military options available to target Mexican drug cartels, according to sources.
In a January video, Trump slammed the cartels that were “waging war on America,” adding it was “now time for America to wage war on [the] cartels.” He also deplored Joe Biden’s open border policies as “a deadly betrayal of our nation.”
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly warned that the US would not be allowed to conduct cross-border armed operations, saying in March that, “in addition to being irresponsible, it is an offense to the people of Mexico.\u201d
Amid speculations regarding the possibility of using military force to crack down on the cartels, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said:
\u201cThe administration is not considering military action in Mexico,\u201d \u201cDesignating these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would not grant us any additional authorities that we don\u2019t already have.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n