At least 19 people were killed in a gunfight in northern Mexico over the weekend, as tensions rise between the USA and Mexico over President Donald Trump’s comments in which he floated the idea of declaring Mexican cartels terrorist groups.
Authorities said suspected members of the Cartel of the Northeast started to attack government offices on Saturday in the town of Villa Union, a small city in Northern Mexico sitting nearly an hour away from the U.S. border.
In response to the attack, DEA backed Mexican officials said they took “immediate and forceful” action, resulting in a series of clashes between Mexican security forces and cartel members on Saturday and Sunday.
19 people have died so far—13 suspected cartel members, four police officers and two civilians, Coahuila Governor Miguel Riquelme said in a statement. Authorities earlier said the death toll had risen to 21.
Earlier this week, Trump said he plans to declare Mexican cartels terrorist groups. The move could be a pretext to send the U.S. military into Mexican territory to combat cartels, violating Mexico’s sovereignty.
Forbes / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
DEA invention to minimize the Mexican control over the cocaine trade.
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