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Trump says he will declare drug cartels terrorist organizations
US President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he will declare drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations when he takes office on January 20.
“All foreign gang members will be expelled and I will immediately designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. I will do this immediately,” he said during a forum of the ultra-conservative organization Turning Point in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Republican, who already governed the country between 2017 and 2021, again accused other countries of sending their “drug traffickers” to the United States and stated that “this entire criminal network operating on American soil will be dismantled, deported and destroyed.”
Trump made these statements after commenting on the case of Aurora, a city in Colorado where, according to the president-elect, there is a presence of members of the Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua .
In addition, the hardline wing of the Republican Party has long been calling for drug traffickers to be considered terrorists and for military intervention in Mexican territory to combat them, a red line for the Mexican government, which warns that it will defend its sovereignty.
During his speech, Trump called Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a “lovely woman” but insisted that Mexico must curb drug trafficking at the border.
“I was very tough on Mexico. I spoke to the new president, a woman who was lovely and wonderful, President Sheinbaum, a wonderful woman, but I told her: ‘You cannot do this to our country,'” he said.
The Republican was referring to the call he had in November with Sheinbaum after having threatened with 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada if their governments do not stop the arrival of migrants and drugs to the United States.
Trump noted that thousands of people die each year from drug overdoses, especially from fentanyl, and stressed: “I have informed Mexico that this cannot continue.”
“Families are being torn apart and we’re going to stop it. We’re not going to let that happen,” said Trump, who announced that his government will launch major advertising campaigns to warn citizens about the dangers of drug use.
Mexico often insists that the United States should address domestic drug demand as a public health issue rather than focusing only on trafficking across the border.
