This past Tuesday, the president of the United States (US), Donald Trump, said during an interview with Bill O'Reilly, that he is working to designate Mexican cartels as terrorists.

“They will be designated ... I have been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process,”

These statements are given after Mexico rejected Trump's help, following the massacre in which 9 members of the LeBarón family died.

When Trump was questioned about what he would do after the designation, he replied:

"I don't want to say what I'm going to do, but they will be designated," Trump answered, adding that the US has offered the Mexican government "to let us go in and clean it out and (the President of Mexico) so far has rejected the offer. But at some point, something has to be done."

Well, then, what happens if Mexican cartels are declared terrorists? According to Infobae, the United States has two laws to combat terrorism, which would result in two scenarios.

The first would be that the US could declare that Mexico does not want to cooperate with the US on the issue of terrorism, in this way Washington could intervene the country militarily, with or without authorization. This is based on Public Law 104-132, also called the Anti-Terrorism Act, Anti-Terrorism and Death Penalty Law, where the US government is empowered to intervene in any country that poses a threat to its security.

The second would be that the government may require the intervention of third-party data in any situation of suspicion about an individual that affects national security. This based on the Patriotic Law, promulgated by President George Bush.

Given these comments, The Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs reported that they have engaged into communication with various US authorities, and seek to have a meeting, to present its position and discuss the matter at hand.

Twitter
editorial@sandiegored.com