❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump notified Congress of an official “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald Trump, U.S. Congress, South and Central American drug cartels, and the U.S. military.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The confidential notice was sent this week.
🎯IMPACT: The notice provides legal justification for recent military strikes targeting drug cartel operations.
President Donald J. Trump has formally notified Congress that the United States is now engaged in an official “armed conflict” with South and Central American drug cartels. This announcement comes following recent U.S. military operations targeting cartel activities in the Caribbean Sea.
A confidential notice was sent to several congressional committees this week, notifying lawmakers that the President has “determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.” The document also outlines the administration’s legal rationale for three military strikes carried out last month, which resulted in the deaths of 17 “narco-terrorists” aboard boats linked to drug trafficking.
The notice aims to provide clarity on the administration’s legal justification for the strikes. Notably, the Trump White House is classifying the operations as part of a broader conflict rather than isolated incidents, with cartel members described as “unlawful combatants.”
The recent strikes were conducted in the Caribbean Sea, an area often used by drug cartels for trafficking operations. However, the administration is believed to be considering direct attacks on cartel infrastructure in Venezuela in the coming months.
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