On Feb. 20, the U.S. State Department announced that it had officially designated eight drug-running cartels (six from Mexico, one from Venezuela, and one from El Salvador) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). This was widely interpreted, by supporters and opponents alike, as establishing the basis for future unilateral U.S. military action against the cartels inside Mexico, should the Trump administration decide to take that step. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, when asked if he would use the military to combat cartels, would only say: “All options will be on the table if we’re dealing with what are designated to be foreign terrorist organizations who are specifically targeting Americans on our border.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to the FTO designation of the cartels at her Feb. 20 morning press conference stating that Mexico would not allow this change in designation to be used to violate Mexico’s sovereignty. She stated: “This cannot be an opportunity by the United States to invade our sovereignty. Therefore, they can give it any name they choose, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and cooperation, never subordination, not interference in our affairs, let alone invasion.”
