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Extreme positions among Republicans are advancing by leaps and bounds, even for attacking a strategic ally and main trading partner like Mexico.
The representative Carlos Giménez (Florida), of Cuban descent, threatened to support a United States military attack in Mexicosimilar to what happened in Afghanistan, after issuing an ultimatum that they must end the cartels in two weeks.
“I would give Mexico two weeks to do the job, and if they can’t do it, then we have to do it,” Giménez said on Fox News. “We have to protect American citizens. Hey, Stuart, they’ve been killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and they’re doing it knowingly. (…) they are poisoning us. So, yes, we have to go find them and we have to wipe them off the face of the Earth.”
The presenter expressed that this was a radical position, but Giménez stated that the United States launched attacks in Afghanistan after the death of 3,000 Americans, in reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“We were at war for 15 years and Al Qaeda killed 3,000 Americans,” he said. “These Mexican cartels (…) are killing hundreds of times more than that. And they are on the other side of the border. So yes, we have to go find them and wipe them off the face of the earth.”
Giménez defended that President Donald Trump will order naming cartels as Transnational Terrorist Organizations (FTO, in English).
“We are very happy that they are terrorists and have been designated terrorists,” he said.
However, the appointment as FTO to cartels and other criminal organizationslike Tren de Aragua and MS-13, is not yet effective, as President Trump called for a framework to support the designation, to determine if it is viable and how it should be done.
Mexico has expressed that it will not allow unilateral military attacks by the United States and will defend its territory and sovereignty, which is why it asked to maintain cooperation against organized crime.
Even Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at his confirmation hearing that he preferred to increase cooperation with Mexico against cartels rather than appointing them FTO, due to the complications that would entail.
Experts have pointed out that the national and international legal framework of FTOs is complex and can have an impact even on legally established companies.
Giménez, however, does not talk about the criminal groups that distribute drugs in the United States, money laundering or arms trafficking from this country to Mexico that empower the cartels.
Keep reading:
· Trump’s first orders on immigration and border: deportations, Remain in Mexico and cartels as terrorist groups
· Donald Trump will eliminate birthright citizenship
· Trump is officially the 47th President of the United States: I will implement an emergency on the southern border
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