Trump says US may strike Mexican drug cartels next, after boat attacks

Mexico, the Reuters news agency, and the NBC report are among the countries that President Donald Trump has suggested he might expand his unprecedented strikes against Latin American drug cartels.

“Would I launch strikes against drugs in Mexico?” That’s fine with me. Mexico is where I’ve been speaking. They are aware of my position, he told reporters on Monday at the Oval Office. “We’re putting up hundreds of thousands of dollars in the drug trade.” We know every route, so we’ve already stopped the waterways.

Trump did not specify how or when such strikes might occur. Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, has previously stated that she opposes any such attacks on the soil of her country.

According to Jeff Garmany, an associate professor of Latin American studies at the University of Melbourne, Mexican opposition may not be heard when he says. There are a number of legal obstacles, some domestic and others international, that stand in the way. UN member states generally respect basic protocols of international diplomacy, he said, despite the fact that they may not be bound by the law.

Nothing about Trump’s second term suggests that he would abide by these rules and protocols, though. No, I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump waited for Sheinbaum’s approval before starting a strike in Mexico, he continued.

Two weeks prior to Trump’s comments, NBC reported that the White House was getting ready for the first stages of a ground operation in Mexico that would be jointly conducted with US intelligence agencies. According to the report, drone strikes against cartel members and drug labs in Mexico will be the focus of the operation.

Trump made the suggestion that the US already has a shortlist of targets in his remarks on Monday at the White House. We are “knowing every route.” Trump told reporters, “We know the addresses of every drug lord.” They are aware of their address. Their front door is known to us. We are completely knowledgeable about each and every one of them.

Because cartels were abusing “hundreds of thousands” of Americans with drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and fentanyl, he said the situation was “like a war.”

Due to the strength of the drug cartels there, Garmany told Al Jazeera, that US strikes in Mexico could probably amount to little. After declaring a “war” on drugs 20 years ago, the Mexican government has itself been at the center of a long-running, deadly conflict.

“Mexico’s cartels are some of the most powerful and organized criminal organizations in the world.” They are situated between the United States and the rest of Latin America in a unique geographic location with abundant resources. Carrying out targeted military strikes would be more effective as a PR stunt than anything else. One of the most lucrative illegal supply chains in the world won’t be stopped, he said.

Since taking office in January, Trump has relied on executive orders and legal provisions to justify military action against drug cartels without the support of Congress. In addition, the White House can use the designation of six drug cartels as a defense for national security.

At least 80 people have died as a result of the White House’s at least 20 strikes on ships reported to be transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific since September, despite the fact that it hasn’t made any public evidence of their connections to drug cartels like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.