Sheinbaum Rejects ‘Terrorism’ Label for Mexican Cartels
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico does not share the terrorism label for cartels, citing changes to Articles 40 and 19 of the Constitution.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that Mexico does not share the term “terrorism” for the country’s cartels, because Mexican law classifies them as organized crime (delincuencia organizada). She spoke at her morning news conference at the Palacio Nacional, according to El Universal.
She added that Mexico changed its Constitution when the United States defined these groups as terrorist organizations, so that the American government’s use of the word cannot give it a license for any action on Mexican soil.
What she said about the word
Sheinbaum told reporters that, from Mexico’s perspective, terrorism is defined differently, which is why the government does not adopt the name. In Mexican law the category that applies to the cartels is organized crime.
She said Mexico modified Article 40 of the Constitution and Article 19 at the moment Washington labeled the organizations terrorist. According to her, the purpose was to make it very clear that the US government’s use of the term gives it no permission to act in Mexico. El Universal’s report does not describe the text of the amendments.
The principles she repeated
Speaking in the Salón Tesorería of the Palacio Nacional, the president restated the framework she has used for cooperation with the United States:
- Collaboration without subordination
- Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity
- Shared responsibility
- Mutual trust
The DEA meeting that came first
Her remarks followed a meeting between Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch and Terry Cole, the director of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Cole said such exchanges are vital for identifying, disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal networks and foreign terrorist organizations, according to El Universal. The newspaper linked to a separate story on the meeting, which says the two officials reviewed strategies against organized crime.
The two governments therefore use different words for the same groups while they continue to meet on security. The US side describes the cartels as terrorist organizations. The Mexican government describes them in its own legal terms and says its constitutional changes limit what the American designation allows.
Why it matters
The wording sets the legal frame for how each country talks about cartel violence and about cross-border security work. Washington’s terrorist designation and Mexico’s organized-crime classification are different categories, and Sheinbaum said Mexico took steps in its Constitution to keep the American label from becoming authority for action inside its borders.
For residents and visitors in Mexico, the statement concerns policy and legal language. It does not announce any new security measure, operation or rule that changes daily life, and the source does not mention one. Sheinbaum did not announce a next step in the exchange with the US government in the portion of her remarks that El Universal reported.
Source: El Universal
