President Donald Trump has signed a new directive to the Pentagon to have the U.S. military be more involved in the fight against drug cartels in Latin America, according to a report from the New York Times.
This new directive could allow the U.S. military to use force against groups that have been designated as foreign terrorists organizations. While many of those groups are based in Mexico, a few others in Latin America and Haiti also have the designation. The Times noted that the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, was added to the list two weeks ago.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already told Trump she does not want to have US military personnel on Mexican soil.
The Times reported that the directive “provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels” and that “U.S. military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the groups.”
In response to a request for comment about the validity of the Times’ report, the White House provided Blaze News with the same statement it provided to the Times.
“President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” said White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly.
Trump hinted to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck in April about using the U.S. military to fight drug cartels.
“That would be breaking news, wouldn’t it?” Trump said, smiling.
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Kristi Noem Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images
If the report is true, there are a few legal hurdles the Trump administration would need to clear, as drug cartels have been tackled with a law enforcement-based approach by the United States. While American law enforcement works with partners in Latin America to go after the expansive criminal groups, some of those countries have increasingly relied on their militaries to arrest and combat the organizations. Latin American police agencies are notoriously corrupt due to low pay and poor training.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already told Trump she does not want to have U.S. military personnel on Mexican soil. While U.S. troops have been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide more manpower to U.S. Border Patrol, they are not staged in an offensive capacity.
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