US President Donald Trump signed a new national counterterrorism strategy aimed at crippling drug cartel operations and threatening governments he deems complicit.
White House senior advisor Sebastian Gorka said Trump signed the document Tuesday “guided by the principle that the United States is our homeland and must be protected.”
“Our new counterterrorism strategy prioritizes neutralizing hemispheric terrorist threats by disrupting cartel operations until these groups are unable to smuggle their drugs, members, and victims of trafficking into the United States,” Gorka stated.
The document specifies that the United States will continue its military and law enforcement campaigns against all cartels and criminal gangs designated as terrorist organizations, as well as target their finances and supply networks.
“We will do this in collaboration with local governments when they are willing and able to work with us. If they cannot or will not, we will take the necessary measures to protect our country, especially if the government in question is complicit with the cartels,” the Counterterrorism Strategy states.
The U.S. government emphasizes that the goal is to neutralize criminal organizations and prevent the regimes that supported them from doing so.
It also indicates that they will prevent the cartels from operating in the region, as well as prevent them from smuggling drugs, weapons, and trafficked women and children.
“Last year, I rightfully designated the cartels as terrorist organizations and began using the force and power of the U.S. Armed Forces to disrupt and destroy their operations. Our Armed Forces also demonstrated their incredible power and skill in capturing the Venezuelan narco-terrorist and dictator Nicolás Maduro and bringing him to U.S. justice,” Trump stated in the document.
Which cartels are considered terrorist organizations by the United States?
The United States government has designated the following drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists:
Sinaloa Cartel: originating in Mexico.
Jalisco New Generation Cartel: originating in Mexico.
Northeast Cartel: originating in Mexico.
La Nueva Familia Michoacana: originating in Mexico.
Gulf Cartel: originating in Mexico.
United Cartels: originating in Mexico.
Tren de Aragua: originating in Venezuela.
Mara Salvatrucha: originating in Los Angeles, United States.
Los Choneros: originating in Ecuador.
Los Lopos: originating in Ecuador.
Clan del Golfo: originating in Colombia.
Cartel de los Soles: originating in Venezuela and was only designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Several of these organizations have links with each other, and some of them have a presence in most countries of the American continent.
Source: radioformula
