14 Latin American Nations to Label 25 Cartels Terrorists at U.N. as Trump Presses Crackdown
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 22
14 Latin American Nations to Label 25 Cartels Terrorists at U.N. as Trump Presses Crackdown
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 22
Summary
Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean nations are expected to announce at the U.N. General Assembly that they will designate 25 criminal groups as terrorist organizations.
The move aligns regional governments with Washington, which has already labeled the same cartels foreign terrorist organizations and is pushing a sharper Western Hemisphere security focus.
U.S. and Latin American officials said the designations will be made through the 1947 Rio Treaty, a collective-defense pact treating an attack on one member as an attack on all.
Analysts say matching terrorist labels across the region could strengthen the legal and political basis for potential military strikes on groups accused of drug trafficking.
Will designating cartels as terrorists finally crush their empires, or ignite an unprecedented multinational war across the Western Hemisphere?
Could labeling drug syndicates as global terrorists unintentionally give these criminal networks the political legitimacy they need to expand their power?
As military strikes on foreign soil loom, how will Latin American nations balance their sovereign borders with the war on cartels?