President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday morning that Mexico could expand a lawsuit against U.S. arms manufacturers if the Donald Trump administration declared Mexican cartels as “terrorists.”
When asked at the “Mañanera del Pueblo” conference about rumors that the U.S. government was close to taking such a measure, Sheinbaum Pardo said that such an expansion could be among the first steps.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported the day before that the U.S. State Department plans to classify cartels from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador and Venezuela as terrorist organizations, as part of a decree by President Donald Trump against those criminal groups.
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The list includes the Mexican cartels: Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Familia Michoacana and Carteles Unidos, for their participation in drug trafficking and migrant trafficking. In addition to the Tren de Aragua from Venezuela, the “Clan del Golfo” from Colombia and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) identified as Salvadoran although originating in California.
“Mexico has an international lawsuit against arms manufacturers and arms distributors in the United States, if they were to declare organized crime groups as terrorists, we would have to expand the lawsuit in the United States because then, as the Department of Justice itself has already recognized that 74% of the weapons of the criminal groups come from the United States, then how do the manufacturers and distributors look in the face of the decree?” said the president.
Mexico had initially sued seven US gun manufacturers – Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock and Ruger – as well as Interstate Arms. Six gun manufacturers were subsequently removed from the case for procedural reasons, leaving only Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms as defendants.
Last August, a Boston judge dismissed a lawsuit by Mexico against gun manufacturers and sellers, claiming $10 billion for being responsible for criminal violence in its territory.
The judge alleged “lack of jurisdiction”, ruling in favor of six defendant companies, while Mexico said its lawsuit against Smith and Wesson and Interstate Arms was still ongoing.
In August 2021, Mexico sued seven manufacturers and one distributor, considering that their “negligent and illicit” trade encourages drug trafficking and violence in the country.
According to the Mexican Foreign Ministry, between 200,000 and 750,000 weapons manufactured by these companies are smuggled into Mexico from the United States every year, and the vast majority are found at crime scenes in the country.
Mexico is pursuing another lawsuit in an Arizona court, based on a new U.S. law that penalizes front men who purchase weapons for a third party.
Source: eleconomista
