The US labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as the anti-drug war escalates

By MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA Colombia AP The Trump administration on Tuesday designated another Latin American drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organization increasing financial pressure on its members and opening the door to feasible military action against them The U S State Department disclosed Clan del Golfo which is based in Colombia has been listed both as a foreign and a global terrorist group calling it a violent and powerful criminal organization that uses cocaine trafficking to fund violent initiatives Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against constituents representatives law enforcement and military personnel and civilians in Colombia the message explained The designation comes after the Trump administration in September added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost years It was a stinging rebuke to a traditional U S ally that reflects a latest surge in cocaine production and fraying ties between the White House and the country s leftist president Gustavo Petro The United States also sanctioned Petro in October over accusations that he had allowed drug cartels in the South American nation to flourish and export cocaine to the U S accusations that he vehemently denied arguing that Colombia is intercepting record levels of cocaine shipments without killing suspected agents With an estimated fighters Clan del Golfo is one of Colombia s the greater part powerful armed groups Also known by its Spanish acronym AGC the group evolved from right-wing paramilitary squads that fought Marxist guerillas in Colombia in the s and s A account published last year by the Human Rights Defender s Office a community agency revealed that AGC is present in about a third of Colombia s municipalities where it extorts local businesses and has also been accused of recruiting children Clan del Golfo has been involved in peace talks with Colombia s regime since September which could lead to the disarmament of its fighters in exchange for reduced sentences for its leadership Earlier this month the Colombian cabinet and the AGC signed an agreement in Qatar under which the group s fighters as of next March will be allowed to gather in specially designated zones in northern and western Colombia where they will be free from prosecution as peace talks continue The agreement also states that the Colombian governing body will suspend any extradition of AGC leaders to the U S during negotiations Elizabeth Dickinson a Colombia analyst at the International Problem Group commented Tuesday s designation could be a message to the Colombian regime to take a tougher stance against the group The tensions between Colombia and Washington are at historic levels Dickinson mentioned She added that while terrorist designations are usually meant to stop third parties from doing business with targeted groups the designation against AGC could be more symbolic and it will give pause to Colombian officers going forward Related Articles Trump will go to Delaware for the dignified transfer of the National Guard members killed in Syria Sen Mark Kelly calls Pentagon inspection into his remarks a move to chill military dissent US Capitol statue of teen civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns to fill Robert E Lee s place After a year of Trump EU leaders begrudgingly learn to live with the reality of an unreliable ally Britain s BBC is both beloved and maligned Now it faces a billion Trump lawsuit Colombia has also not long ago held peace talks with the National Liberation Army also an organization designated as a terrorist group by the U S and in the past it struck a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC while it was still designated as a terrorist group The designation does not provide the U S authorities with the immediate authority to conduct military strikes although it enhances the legal framework for attacks against targeted groups to be carried out Earlier this year the Trump administration designated Venezuelan gangs Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations before launching strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela whose legality has been questioned by U S lawmakers The Trump administration has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of sending drug shipments to the U S And last week Trump disclosed Petro has been fairly hostile to the U S and that he was going to have himself selected big problems if he doesn t wise up