The United States has officially named six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The designation gives the United States more power to prosecute people for financially supporting cartels. Some in Mexico worry it will also pave the way for future military intervention from U.S. forces.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her daily morning press conference the U.S. made this decision without consulting Mexico.
“This can’t become an opportunity for the United States to invade Mexico’s sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said.
The official U.S. State Department designation fulfills an executive order from President Trump on his first day in office.
The cartels that were designated include the Sinaloa Cartel, which for decades has operated along the Pacific coast in western Mexico. Two additional cartels not based in Mexico are also on the list.
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One of the cartels designated as a foreign terrorist organization is largely believed to be responsible for the 2019 killing of nine U.S. citizens in the Mexican state of Sonora. -
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