Mexico’s President Threatens to Sue U.S. Gunmakers if Cartels are Designated as Terrorist Groups

What Happened?

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a statement this week threatening to take legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers if the U.S. government designates drug cartels as terrorist organizations. 

During a daily press conference Ms. Sheinbaum said “If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we'll have to expand our U.S. lawsuit.”

She then added a claim that three-quarters of the guns used by drug cartels come from the United States. There was no immediate response from the Trump Administration to Ms. Sheinbaum’s comments. 

Why it Matters

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that three-quarters of guns used by criminals in Mexico come from the United States. According to a Sixty Minutes documentary a total of between two hundred thousand and half a million firearms are illegally smuggled into Mexico annually. 

So, there is evidence to back up Ms. Sheinbaum’s claims. 

Exactly what legal action she would take against U.S. gun manufacturers remains unclear. But the threat itself is indicative of the increased tensions between the United States and Mexico.

A bigger question is whether Mexican drug cartels can accurately be called terrorist organizations. After 9/11, the U.S. military gradually adopted a loose definition of terrorist organizations. 

Under that definition, the central meaning of “terrorist groups” was that those groups were willing to use violence to achieve political objectives. Violence for political goals is different from common criminal activity, whose purpose isn’t political but simply to make money.  

Terrorist groups want publicity, criminal groups want to avoid it.

However, Mexican drug cartels do have ties to Mexico’s government, and cartels frequently threaten, abduct, and kill officials who will not do as they are told by cartel leaders. So there is a political dimension to cartel activities. 

And cartels are certainly willing to use violence to achieve their goals, so some aspects of their operations could be considered terrorist in nature. 

The biggest potential problem with targeting drug cartels with military assets is many cartels are based in highly populated cities. So any airstrikes or other use of kinetic force would almost certainly involve a high number of civilian casualties. 

Another danger is retaliation; drug cartels operate in almost every major American city. How they might respond to a military attack is unknown, but it’s well within their capability to cause significant damage on U.S. soil. 

To eliminate drug cartels permanently will require better cooperation between the U.S. government and the government of Mexico. But at the moment relations seem to be worsening instead of improving.

How it Affects You

Gun manufacturers would likely win any arguments in U.S. courts on the grounds that they are not responsible for the illegal use of their products. 

But Mexican courts are another matter, and they could very well lose there. 

Increasing tensions between the U.S. and Mexico will make it easier for drug cartels to operate and provide them with an opportunity to expand their illicit drug trade.