Posted on 12/06/2019 5:46:04 PM PST by NoLibZone
President Donald Trump decided Friday not to officially designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, deferring instead to Mexico.
“We will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The president said that although he was fully prepared to take the tough step against the cartels, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked him not to.
Trump said he liked and respected President Obrador, who has been working with him to help stop the flow of migrants crossing the Southern border of the United States.
President Trump was expected to meet with his advisers on Friday to discuss the designation, which he has been previewing for months.
“All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations,” he confirmed on Friday. “Statutorily we are ready to do so.”
The cartel slaughter of nine American citizens in Mexico last month — six children and three women — prompted Trump to speed up the process.
U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr met with Obrador on Thursday to discuss the president’s proposal, which the Mexican president criticized as “interventionism” and a “flagrant violation of our sovereignty.” Obrador also cited President Obama’s failed gunrunning operation “Fast and Furious” as an example of how the United States only made violence worse in Mexico.
“It’s psychological, but it’s also economic,” Trump said about the cartels. “As terrorists — as terrorist organizations, the answer is yes. They are.
The designation would allow law enforcement to act swiftly against the cartels as well as target their weaponry and financial resources. The federal government would also be allowed to prosecute friends and family members of the cartels supporting them in the United States, as well as organized gangs such as MS-13.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
No, it’s not “bad”. Circumstances changed, in our favor.
Mexican president hails ‘good meeting’ with U.S. attorney general Barr
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had a “good meeting” on Thursday with U.S. Attorney General William Barr, as they sought to address the threat of Mexican drug cartels, which the United States wants to label terrorist groups.
Lopez Obrador said on Twitter that Barr “understands our constitution obligates us to adhere to the principles of cooperation for development and non-intervention in foreign affairs. In this way, we will always be able to work together.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-cartels-lopez-obrador-idUSKBN1Y92MB
More from the DOJ on Barr’s trip to Mexico can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/readout-us-attorney-general-william-p-barrs-visit-mexico
Lost opportunity, but I believe Trump will have this designation always hanging over the Mexicans if they don’t play ball (control the illegals). ‘Art of the Deal’
Did the President offer to sell California back to Mexico?
... < insert cartoon fail sound here >...
Trump has found himself a big lever.
“Lost opportunity, but I believe Trump will have this designation always hanging over the Mexicans if they don’t play ball (control the illegals). ‘Art of the Deal’”
I believe you’re right. Short-sighted people like to jump to concluding that Trump backs down when he’s really leveraging.
Make one Super Cartel, Kill all the others, then circle back and Drop a MOAB on our Super Cartel...
Bad? Not really. This puts Mexico on notice. When they fail Trump will be “left with no choice” but to have the US intervene.
Mexico AND the cartels don’t want the power of the US military operating in their backyards. At minimum it will likely moderate behavior.
Why?! Tired of talk and back downs.
The designation is on it’s way.
AMLO will have no success with lesser measures. But he will be given a chance.
Cartels will respond with attacks in US, giving Trump more support.
I’m with you and I think he cut a deal, withhold judgment friends.
I hope that is the case.
Be bad if it’s the Mexicans that have the lever.
.....”Short-sighted people like to jump to concluding that Trump backs down when he’s really leveraging”....
They don’t understand the plays because they don’t understand the field of play nor the players.
I’m with you and I think he cut a deal, withhold judgment friends.
...
But it’s so hard to ignore those Breitbart clickbait titles that inspire gloom and despair.
T has always held his cards close to his chest. Why doubt him now?
Weird headline. Stopping just short of doing something then holding it over their heads is hardly backing down. It’s smart strategy.
Just militarize our border and search all trucks that cross it.
Enemy combatants, then.
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