The United States has officially designated eight Latin American drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
The move, announced by the US State Department, is aimed at cutting off these groups from financial resources and increasing law enforcement pressure.
The designated groups include Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, El Salvador’s MS-13, and a number of Mexican groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, the North East Cartel, La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), the Gulf Cartel, and the United Cartels. These organisations are accused of widespread violence, assassinations, extortion, human trafficking, and large-scale drug distribution, including the fentanyl trade that has fueled the US’s opioid crisis, claiming over a quarter of a million American lives.
A statement from the US State Department justified the move by citing the “campaigns of violence and terror” committed by these cartels.
“The United States remains committed to protecting our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere by stopping the campaigns of violence and terror committed by international cartels and transnational organizations,” it added.
As a result of the designation, all assets belonging to these groups within US jurisdiction are frozen, and American individuals or businesses are prohibited from conducting transactions with them. The action also strengthens legal mechanisms for law enforcement to prosecute those providing support to the cartels.
EXTREME CARTEL VIOLENCE
The extreme violence perpetrated by these cartels is exemplified by their use of weaponised drones to terrorise communities. In Mexico’s Michoacán state, the CJNG group, which has a presence all across America, has carried out explosive drone attacks and shot down military helicopters with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
In 2024, Mexico experienced an alarming surge in cartel-related political assassinations, with at least 63 politicians murdered between June 2023 and June 2024, marking it as the bloodiest election cycle in the country’s history.
One of the most shocking incidents was the assassination of Alejandro Arcos Catalán, the newly elected mayor of Chilpancingo, Guerrero. Last October, just six days into his tenure, Arcos was abducted and decapitated, with his severed head being placed on top of his vehicle on display.
All of this has led US lawmakers to conclude that cartel violence is more akin to an ISIS-like terrorist threat than a traditional crime issue.
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT RESISTANT
However, the decision to designate cartels as terrorists has triggered a strong response from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who warned that “this cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty.”
Sheinbaum said that Mexico supports “collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.”
She further criticised Washington for failing to consult her government before making the decision. In response, she announced plans for constitutional reforms to reinforce Mexico’s sovereignty and increase penalties for arms trafficking, which she blames on lax US gun laws.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence or sovereignty of the nation.”
There has also been a question over whether designating cartels as terrorists could impact on many Latin American migrants’ ability to claim asylum in the US, because by paying smugglers to sneak them across the border, they would be legally viewed as guilty of financing a terrorist organisation.
POTENTIAL FOR DIRECT MILITARY ACTION
Members of the Donald Trump administration, including President Trump himself, have hinted at the idea that the US may engage the cartels in a direct military confrontation.
On the day of his inauguration in January, when asked by a reporter if he would sent US Special Forces into Mexico to eliminate cartel leaders, Trump replied: “It could happen. Stranger things have happened.”
Moreover, tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is a leading figure within the Trump administration, has suggested that such moves could mean cartels are now “eligible for drone strikes.”