After his second inauguration on Jan. 20, 2024, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating major Latin American criminal gangs and cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.” Advocates of the order say that this designation will empower the United States to allocate more resources in the domestic and international fight against the cartels.
Opponents warn that the order will have many harmful and adverse effects, especially on refugees and migrant families attempting to escape from areas under cartel control.
Opponents are also concerned that the order might be used to justify future U.S. military actions inside of Mexico against cartel operations, which the Trump administration has outlined as a possibility.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has warned against any U.S. military incursion, calling it a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty. Her comments come as other U.S. allies like Canada and Denmark also raise alarms about potential U.S. military invasions or annexations of their territories by the Trump administration.
Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette reviews the breakdown of U.S.-Mexican relations under Trump and warns Americans that they’re going to miss having a peaceful southern border.
The following is an excerpt from the above video:
Interestingly enough, Trump, in his inaugural address, used that same phrase, manifest destiny, to explain his own exploratory ambitions.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” the new president said.
Well, what if Trump isn’t satisfied with conquering Martians? What if he then sets his imperialistic sights on the Mexicans?
Don’t laugh. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum isn’t amused. She’s drawing a line at the border and putting Trump on notice that her country will not accept or tolerate an “invasion” of its national sovereignty just because the United States wants to go hunting the members of drug cartels.
Add that to Sheinbaum’s threat to impose reciprocal tariffs of her own on U.S. imports into Mexico, to counter tariffs that Trump imposes on goods from Mexico, and her promise to sue U.S. gun manufacturers for the guns that flow south into Mexico.
What put Sheinbaum on edge, apparently, was the fact that the Trump administration designated the cartels as terrorist organizations. If recent history of how the U.S. dealt with al-Qaida and ISIS is any indication, that designation alone could open up the possibility that the United States could send troops, dispatch drones, assign special ops, maybe even fire missiles into our neighbor’s front lawn.
Of course, that kind of scenario would be no bueno. In fact, Mexico is likely considered that sort of thing an act of war. And if that happens, [sic] bar the door, we may soon look back fondly on recent times as the good old days when we actually had a friend on our southern border instead of an enemy. Can you imagine that, having an enemy on our border? Trust me, you don’t want to.
