US-led Americas coalition backs sanctions against crime groups

President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged a US-led coalition in Latin America to impose sanctions on 24 criminal networks, just hours after denouncing regional drug cartels as “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere”.

“I’m asking all nations in the Shield of the Americas to formally designate narco-terrorists as common threats to stability,” Trump told a gathering of the alliance on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN.

The “Shield of the Americas” is a coalition of pro-US administrations convened by Trump to combat drug trafficking and organised crime across the region.

On Tuesday, 15 governments in the coalition issued a joint statement declaring their intent to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions and seek criminal liability for members and supporters of 24 criminal organisations.

At the top of the list are two groups that have been declared terrorist organisations by Washington: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) – one of Central America’s most powerful criminal gangs – and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that is also active in Colombia, Peru and Chile.

The list also includes major Mexican cartels, Colombian armed groups such as the ELN, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho groups, and Peru’s Shining Path.

Trump called for countries to “apply crushing sanctions against all 24 US-designated foreign terrorist organisations.”

Earlier, the US leader said in a speech to the UN that drug “cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere, not good people. They are enemies at war with civilisation. ” ISIS refers to the Islamic State group.

The Shield of the Americas statement was endorsed by the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.

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