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Initial thoughts on US possibly declaring Mexican drug cartels 'terrorists', a thread.
Designating groups 'terrorists' kicks in all sorts of legal moves which would have its greatest impact domestically in that banks would immediately come under pressure as /1
Designating groups 'terrorists' kicks in all sorts of legal moves which would have its greatest impact domestically in that banks would immediately come under pressure as /1
money laundering investigations would begin in earnest. The judicial and penal systems would be given added burdens as those affiliated with the cartels would be charged not just for the ordinary felonies of drug trafficking, but also for being members/associates of /2
terror orgs. We already know how this works in the USA by way of the recent slew of convictions of people who have been convicted of financially supporting ISIS in Syria. This would tax the system but I'm out of my depth as to how taxing it would be. /3
We would also see a massive uptick in surveillance of Mexican communities already in the USA, and that would then invite conflict from NGOs and bodies that deal in human rights issues. Politically cynical types would exploit this as "White America's War on Latinos" /4
So the battle against the traffickers, now designated as terrorists, would be politicized immediately. Par for the course these days. Media would draw parallels not just to Reagan's failed War on Drugs and all the activity from the DEA and CIA in Latin America in the past /5
but would amplify by drawing parallels to Japanese internment during WW2 even if it were not to approach it in the slightest. The entire thing would be framed in this manner, heightened by an already fractured political climate. /6
Recall not too long ago about how the Dems and media went into overdrive about the 'threat to trade between the USA and Mexico' regarding Trump's moves to toughen up the border. This argument would have much more merit than a 'war on Latinos' /7
Add to this the fact that large segments of the FBI, which would have the lion's share of the tasking set aside for it to 'take down domestic terrorists/terrorists on our soil', are at war with Trump and his gov't. /8
Historical examples we have are those that support or have supported such groups as Hezbollah or ISIS. The difference though is that the areas of operation of these groups are far, far away from US soil and their product/aims are not popular with US citizens, unlike /9
the drugs being distributed and sold to American consumers. Hezbollah and ISIS don't share an open and porous border with the USA, unlike Mexican drug cartels. There are what, some 30 million Mexicans in the USA now? How many of them are associated with these cartels? /10
Trump has only made a statement to O'Reilly so we have no idea what the size and more importantly, the scope would be of this plan. But the potential scale is ENORMOUS. I'll stop here for now to ask for some thoughts. /11
