Breaking News: Trump labels 8 Latin American cartels as ‘foreign terrorist organizations’

The Trump administration has designated eight Latin American crime organisations as “foreign terrorist organisations,” increasing pressure on cartels operating in the US and those who support them.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 naming Tren de Aragua in Venezuela, MS-13 in El Salvador, and others. According to a notification issued Wednesday, the designation will appear in Thursday’s edition of the Federal Register.

The Republican president has made securing the U.S.-Mexico border among his top priorities, vowing to carry out mass deportations, sending active duty troops to the border and reaching deals with some countries to take in more migrants. The notification is due for formal publication in the federal register Thursday.

The “foreign terrorist organization” label is unusual because it deploys a terrorist designation normally reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State group that use violence for political ends – not for money-focused crime rings such as the Latin American cartels.

The Trump administration argues that the international connections and operations of the groups – including drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and violent pushes to extend their territory – warrant the designation.

Critics of the move call it an unnecessarily broad and harsh one that could damage relations and paralyze trade with Latin America. Businesses, banks and buyers could fear possible U.S. prosecution if they knowingly or unknowingly have any transactions that touch the world of the cartels.

Such cartels permeate Mexico’s economy, dealing not only in drug trafficking and migrant smuggling but fighting for control of the multibillion-dollar avocado business.

Aid groups claim that previous US designations of groups as foreign terrorist organisations have jeopardised overall food imports into countries, for example, by making shipping companies terrified that US prosecutors may accuse them of directly or indirectly assisting the targeted groups.

In response to Trump’s directive last month, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that the country will protect its sovereignty and independence while seeking coordination.

“We all want to fight the drug cartels,” Sheinbaum said. The U.S. “in their territory, us in our territory.”