The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suggested a series of military strikes against targets in Mexico that included targeted assassinations of Mexican cartel leaders and attacks on their infrastructure in the country, but the initiative was rejected by the White House and the Pentagon, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The attacks were proposed during the first weeks of Donald Trump’s new administration, when the Republican magnate ordered the designation of several Latin American cartels and criminal gangs as “foreign terrorist organizations,” the U.S. newspaper reported.
DEA officials suggested carrying out targeted strikes against cartel leaders within the country, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose details of confidential internal deliberations.
The resistance to the DEA’s defense, which had not been previously reported, according to the Post, “illustrates the divisions that have emerged as the Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance to combat a major adversary poisoning American citizens.”
The DEA’s acting administrator at the time, Derek S. Maltz, told The Washington Post that he was “fully in favor” of targeting production labs and criminal group leaders in Mexico.
“The cartels have killed more Americans than any terrorist organization in U.S. history, so they must be held accountable,” Maltz said. He thanked the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo for “making substantial arrests and seizures and dismantling the cartels,” but added that “much more must be done to stop them.”
Although the US office’s proposal was not implemented, the recent attacks this month against suspected drug vessels from Venezuela demonstrate the Trump administration’s determination to use lethal force despite domestic legal concerns, the outlet stated.
Washington is facing a tense debate over the legality of attacks launched against targets in the Caribbean Sea, amid the Republican tycoon’s threats against the Bolivarian Republic and its President Nicolás Maduro, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Source: jornada
