This archive report was first published on 27 November 2019.
US President Donald Trump has announced plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror groups, a move that comes after the killing of nine women and children from a Mormon community in northern Mexico.
The victims, including twin eight-month-old babies, were killed as they drove on a remote road between the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, a lawless region disputed by warring drug cartels.
Trump made the announcement in an interview with conservative media personality Bill O'Reilly, saying, "I don't want to say what I'm going to do, but they will be designated."
He added that he had been working on the designation for the last 90 days and that "designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process and we are well into that process."
Mexican authorities have reacted swiftly to the announcement, with the foreign ministry saying that it has contacted US officials "to understand the meaning and scope of the remarks".
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard's reaction was more forceful on Twitter, saying, "Mexico will never allow any action that means a violation of its national sovereignty."
