Less than two weeks a later, on Dec. 9, the president tweeted that he was temporarily delaying the plan at Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s request. The senior administration official portrayed the president’s announcement not as a reversal but as a strategic move. The agencies represented at the meetings included the departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, Treasury and Commerce, one administration official said. Numerous current and former U.S. officials and other experts say that designating Mexican cartels as FTOs would be counter-productive. Asset freezes and bans on travel to the U.S. could affect Mexican officials, military commanders, and businessmen in league with the cartels.

Source: National Post December 26, 2019 15:56 UTC