Classify Mexican drug cartels as "Terrorist organizations" : this is the last fad of Donald Trump. In a telephone interview on Conservative reporter Bill O'Reilly's website on Tuesday, November 26, the US president was asked if he heard "Designate cartels as terrorist groups". "I'll designate them yes, absolutely. I have been working there for ninety days. Designations are not that easy, there is a whole process and we are in the processhe told the former Fox News anchor.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry, Marcelo Ebrard, reacted in a statement, saying he had contacted US authorities "To understand the content and the scope" of this message. Mexico says it wishes "A high level meeting as soon as possible" to confront his point of view to that of the United States, added the Mexican diplomacy.
Mr. Ebrard was more virulent. "Mexico will never admit any action that signifies the violation of its sovereignty. We will act firmly, he wrote on Twitter. "I have already conveyed this position to the United States as well as our determination to deal with cross-border organized crime. "
Record of violence in 2019
This controversy arose when, at the beginning of the month, three women and six children from an American Mormon community in northern Mexico were massacred in an attack attributed to the very influential cartels in the border region.
Washington had then urged Mexico to " to declare war " to these cartels, and Donald Trump had explained that the United States was ready to help their neighbor to the South. "If Mexico needs or asks for help to get rid of these monsters, the United States is ready, willing and able to commit to doing the job quickly and efficiently"had tweeted the Republican head of state.
Mexican authorities are regularly accused of being overwhelmed by the spread of cartel violence in the country. With about 26,000 deaths since the beginning of the year in Mexico, a new record of violence could be broken in 2019.
