In the United States, several Republican legislators and the attorneys general of 21 states, also Republicans, propose that the Mexican drug cartels be designated as terrorist organizations and that the Armed Forces be authorized to combat them in Mexico and the rest of the world.
President Joe Biden has ignored these proposals and a few days ago his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said that “Since day one of this administration, we have focused on disrupting transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican drug cartels. (…) Biden signed an executive order that gives the Treasury Department more powers to sanction cartels and those who control or enable them. And we have imposed powerful new sanctions against the cartels in recent weeks.”
Biden and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador insist on ensuring that their fight against drug traffickers and other organized criminals is going well despite the fact that the results obtained by both leave much to be desired given that the power of organized crime and the number of illicit drug users are on the rise in both the US and Mexico.
And although it hurts AMLO and Biden, everything seems to indicate that a significant majority of the American people support the proposals of the Republicans that the Mexican president described a few days ago as “wimps, interventionists and arrogant” as well as corrupt.
The above, according to a survey conducted from March 9 to 12 by Rasmussen Reports that was released yesterday and reveals that 79% of likely US voters believe that Mexican cartels are a serious threat to their country, including 55% which says that the threat is very serious. 69% want the cartels to be declared terrorist organizations, as is being proposed and demanded by more and more Republican politicians and officials.
Due to their party affiliation, 89% of Republicans believe that the cartels are a serious threat, 74% of those who call themselves independent think so, and 74% of Democrats also believe so.
That cartels should be classified as terrorist organizations is believed by 89% of Republicans, 65% of Democrats and 62% of independents, which means that many Biden supporters support the Republican proposal.
Qualifying the Mexican drug traffickers as international terrorists or not will be one of the main issues of the next US presidential campaign. The more Biden refuses to do so, the more votes the Republicans can attract.
calm is over
Yesterday I concluded my column like this, in which I referred to the financial markets affected by the bankruptcy of two US banks: “Let’s hope that calm remains for a long time and something doesn’t happen that puts an end to it, which in this uncertain and unpredictable world post-pandemic should not surprise anyone”.
Well, something happened that ended that calm: the shares of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse plummeted 24% after its largest shareholder said it could not provide more support.
The foregoing caused a fall in most of the world’s stock markets. Wow, the post-pandemic world is uncertain and unpredictable.
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