Donald Trump returned to the US presidency on January 20 with a flurry of executive orders. This included the designation of criminal gangs and drug cartels operating south of the Mexico border as “foreign terrorist organisations” – a first for a US president. The state department will now decide which groups are added to the list.
Trump’s disdain for the criminal fraternity in Latin America is not new. When announcing his first run for the presidency in 2015, Trump claimed the Mexican government was deliberately sending drugs, rapists and criminals to the US.
To keep them out, he floated and later implemented a rigorous border protection programme. This led not only to mass deportations, but also the building of a concrete and metal wall along the US-Mexico border that spans hundreds of miles.
