First modification:
The kidnapping of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros was, according to the Mexican authorities, the result of a “confusion.” Although Mexico clarified that there are no United States agents in its territory, this episode could harden the relationship between the two countries.
On March 3, four Americans were intercepted by a group of armed men in Matamaros, who opened fire on the vehicle before kidnapping its occupants.
After several days missing, a joint search operation between Mexico and the United States made it possible to find them. Two of them, Woodard and Brown, were found dead. McGee was uninjured and Williams suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, according to the Mexican government.
The group of friends were heading to Matamoros, where McGee, 33, had an appointment at a clinic to undergo a tummy tuck, or tummy tuck, according to the AP news agency. Authorities in both countries estimate that a Mexican drug cartel likely mistook the Americans for Haitian drug traffickers.
“terrorist” groups
This episode could harden the relationship between Mexico and the United States. Washington is once again considering the possibility of including the Mexican drug cartels on the blacklist of terrorist groups.
“It is not something unprecedented because, unfortunately, murders of people have already occurred. And in this case, what is worrying is that two people out of four appear dead. So, I do think this is something more delicate. It also largely has to do with who drive that area. It is one of the most dangerous cartels that is evidently considered by the United States government. This has already been handled for several years, the possibility of putting them on a particular list as if they were terrorist groups“ExplainIsmene Ithaí Bras, academic at UNAM.
Indeed, Republican congressmen introduced a bill on Wednesday to designate the cartels as “terrorist” groups, and several senators have been calling for days for the government to allow the US military to fight them wherever they are.
“Greater interference”
The analyst believes that this means “a different type of operation in the binational relationship”, “greater interference”, and that it deals with vital issues for the United States, “such as security, security of its citizens, business security, security region of”.
Senators Roger Marshall and Rick Scott presented a bill that targets the Gulf, Jalisco Nueva Generación, Sinaloa and Northeast cartels. The initiative classifies them as terrorists, vetoes their members from entering US territory, allows their assets and transactions to be blocked, and penalizes those who help them materially.
Two other Republicans, Lindsey Graham and John Neely Kennedy, will introduce another bill “in the coming days” to designate these groups as foreign terrorist organizations. They will also ask, Graham said this Wednesday at a press conference, that “the use of military force” be authorized so that the United States military can destroy the laboratories where fentanyl is produced.
The Under Secretary for National Defense and Hemispheric Affairs of the United States, Melissa G. Dalton, expressed her concern about the bill presented by the Republican congressmen.
