LEILA FADEL, HOST:
One of the many executive orders Trump signed on Inauguration Day called on the State Department to designate Mexico's drug cartels and two Latin American gangs as foreign terrorist organizations. Now, a decision like this typically takes months, but Trump gave the State Department 14 days to make a recommendation. The question now is, how would classifying cartels as terrorists change the way the U.S. fights drug trafficking and what it means for the sovereignty of other nations? Mike Vigil spent three decades with the Drug Enforcement Administration, including as its chief of international operations in the early 2000s, and he joins me now. Good morning.
MIKE VIGIL: Good morning. It's a pleasure to be on your program.
FADEL: Thank you for being here. I mean, I think I just want to start with what this decision would actually do when it comes to dealing with the flow of drugs and violence.
VIGIL: It really would not do anything because the actions that would be undertaken under a terrorist designation are already being done. Number one, it allows the U.S. government to seize bank accounts and properties belonging to these designated groups in the United States - not abroad, just in the United States. Secondly, it would sanction American citizens if they have any ties to businesses belonging to these designated groups, and then thirdly, tries to prevent them from coming into the United States. That's being done and has been done for decades. And this is nothing more than political theater, but here's the problem - that by designating these groups, it's going to alienate Mexico, and we need to work very closely with Mexico in order to attack some of the biggest drug trafficking networks that exist in the world.
FADEL: Well, let me ask you about that. I mean, Mexico has expressed concern around sovereignty, especially the possibility of U.S. military action. I mean, we've seen the U.S. go after designated terrorist organizations in other places without the permission of the nation state, right? Is that a possibility?
VIGIL: I don't think so because Mexico is one of our largest trading partners. And by going in and attacking the cartels in Mexico, that would be an act of war. And what we would see are other Latin American countries aligning with Mexico, and then a lot of these countries might go even further and align themselves with China.
FADEL: But would the designation give political cover to a decision like that? I mean, that is what the U.S. has done in places like Yemen, Syria, Iraq.
VIGIL: No, it would not give coverage to that. You know, there's been attacks in Syria and other areas, but it doesn't have to do with the Terrorist Designation Act. These are actions that have been taken by the U.S. government to try to eliminate al-Qaida, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, if you will.
FADEL: Houthis - all designated terrorist organizations.
VIGIL: But to attack a country that has been aligned with the United States for decades would be a disaster - a complete disaster.
FADEL: What happens to businesses and individuals who have no choice but to deal with cartels who control their areas?
VIGIL: This designation would impact on U.S. citizens if they have ties to those businesses. So they would have to basically sever them, even though it might damage their business enterprise. But here's the other thing - about 80% of the weapons that are found in Mexico come from the United States, and the cartels generate a lot of violence and intimidation in Mexico as a result of those weapons. So the key question here is, why are we arming the people that we're supposed to be fighting?
FADEL: Mike Vigil is a former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thank you, Mike.
VIGIL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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