Alex Brandon (AP)
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed an executive order on Monday to classify the Mexican cartels, the criminal group “Tren de Aragua” and the Salvadoran gang MS-13 as terrorist organizations.
These groups will become part of a list of organizations – which includes the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda – to which American companies and citizens are prohibited from giving “material support.”
“Mexico probably doesn’t want this,” Trump said in the Oval Office after signing the decree.
When asked by a reporter if the decision would imply attacking the cartels on Mexican territory, he replied: “It could happen, stranger things have happened.”
Specifically, regarding the Tren de Aragua – a criminal group that Trump referred to on multiple occasions during the electoral campaign in speeches stigmatizing all Venezuelan migrants – his government will order the deportation of all people who are considered “members” of the gang, according to an official of the transition team in a call with journalists.
This group, which emerged in a Venezuelan prison and has a presence in several South American countries, was already sanctioned in July of this year by the Treasury Department under the Administration of Democrat Joe Biden.
MS-13, with origins and presence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, has also been sanctioned by the US Treasury since 2012, under the presidency of Barack Obama (2009-2017).
The decision to include these groups on the list of terrorist organizations could have consequences both for migrants seeking to reach the US, as well as for companies that have business in Mexico, as experts have warned.
Organized crime in the U.S.A. ‘s neighboring country has extended its networks into human trafficking, which has become one of the most lucrative industries for these groups.
At the same time, extortion of businesses by criminal groups is “widespread” in Mexico. According to findings from a study published last year by the American Chamber of Commerce, 45% of businesses with ties to the U.S. reported having been extorted by one of these gangs.
by EFE