Trump administration eyes military action against Mexican and Venezuelan drug cartels, US officials say
The US president has directed the Pentagon to prepare options. However, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in response that members of the US military would not be entering Mexican territory.
"There will be no invasion of Mexico," Ms Sheinbaum said.
The Trump administration designated Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs, as well as Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, as global terrorist organisations in February, as Mr Trump stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the administration could now use the military to go after cartels.
"It allows us to now target what they're operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever … to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it," Mr Rubio said.
"We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organisations, not simply drug-dealing organisations."
The New York Times reported on Friday that Mr Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force against the groups.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that move but said military action against the designated groups did not appear imminent.
A second US official said the authority would, among other things, authorise the US Navy to carry out actions at sea and could include drug interdiction operations. Operations could also include targeted military raids.
The US military has already been increasing its airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities.
The Mexican president said on Friday, local time, that members of the US military would not be entering Mexico.
Ms Sheinbaum said her government had been informed of a coming order but it had nothing to do with the US military operating on Mexican soil.
Washington's actions to prosecute and combat cartel activity in Mexico have caused tension with its southern neighbour, which sees them at times as challenges to Mexican sovereignty.
Ms Sheinbaum questioned US Attorney-General Pam Bondi's accusation last week that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
She added that Mexico was not investigating alleged ties and had no evidence of such, and that if Washington did, it should share it.
Any move to use US military forces against cartels could raise legal questions.
Brian Finucane, with the International Crisis Group, has written that military action in Mexico would "be hard to square with domestic or international law".
"Even though US military action in Mexico would almost certainly be unlawful, as a practical matter, such illegality may not serve as an effective impediment," Mr Finucane said.
Mr Trump has previously offered to send US troops to Mexico to help Ms Sheinbaum combat drug trafficking, an offer she said in May had been refused.
The US president said at the time that the US would take unilateral military action if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels.
Ms Sheinbaum has called any such action a violation of Mexico's sovereignty.
Reuters
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