When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, he immediately signed a flurry of Executive Orders, several of which underscored the administration's commitment to tightening immigration policies and enhancing border security including one titled “Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”
The administration has followed through on its promise to ramp up deportations, and recent military strikes on boats departing Venezuela are demonstrations of its willingness to act upon its goal of targeting what they claim are drug smugglers from ‘cartels or other organizations’ — though they have provided no evidence and legal scholars question the legality of such strikes. The administration has also designated six Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations so the question remains whether it will take similar military action in Mexico.
So, what effect have these kinds of policies had on our relationship with Mexico and other countries in Latin America, and how people in those countries perceive the United States? To explore those questions and more, we talk with a Florida Gulf Coast University political science professor whose academic focus is on Mexico and Latin American politics and foreign policy.
Guest:
Dr. Rick Coughlin, Professor of Political Science at Florida Gulf Coast University
You can hear our conversation with Dr. Coughlin that we refer to during this interview here.
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