Mexico targets U.S. gun makers after terror tag on cartels
The US designated eight Latin American drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations.
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The US designated eight Latin American drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations.
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Mexico is not allowing the United States to attack alleged drug cartels inside its territory for being terrorist organizations.
The designation “cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,” President Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference Thursday.
Sheinbaum said Mexico would expand its legal action against US gun manufacturers, which her government accuses of negligence in the sale of weapons that end up in the hands of drug traffickers.
The lawsuit could lead to a new charge of alleged “complicity” with terrorist groups, she said.
The remarks were the latest in a series hitting back at the administration of President Donald Trump, which has ramped up pressure on its southern neighbor to curb illegal flows of drugs and migrants.
Mexico is trying to avoid the sweeping 25-percent tariffs threatened by Trump by increasing cooperation in the fight against narcotics trafficked by the cartels in his sights.
The eight Latin American drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations include Mexican gangs such as the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels — two of the country’s most powerful and violent criminal organizations.
In an interview broadcast late Thursday on the social media platform X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to allay those concerns.
“In the case of Mexico, the preference always is to work in conjunction with our partners in Mexico, and we can provide them a lot of information about who they are and where they’re located,” he said, referring to the newly designated criminal gangs.
