Cape Verde among countries at risk of US military action on anti-drugs proposal

A legislative proposal in circulation in the United States, which authorizes the use of military force against drug cartels considered "narco-terrorist", places Cape Verde as a possible indirect target for military action, as it has been mentioned in international reports on the activities of the Sinaloa Cartel. The information was provided by the New York Times.

The initiative, presented by Republican congressman Cory Mills, proposes a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), along the lines of the one approved after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The difference is that this time the authorization is aimed at drug trafficking and does not impose geographical restrictions, and can cover more than 60 countries.

According to the DEA, the Sinaloa Cartel operates in at least 47 countries. Cape Verde is cited as allegedly being involved in the organization's routes, although there are no formal accusations of the archipelago's direct participation in international trafficking.

Experts warn that the breadth of the legal text would give the US president leeway to decide unilaterally who is considered a "narco-terrorist". Professor Elizabeth Beavers, from Widener University, called the proposal "excessively broad", which could justify operations in countries only mentioned in reports.

While human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have already criticized recent US operations in the Caribbean for resulting in "unlawful extrajudicial killings", analysts stress that for countries like Cape Verde, the reference in the reports represents a potential risk, not an immediate threat. Possible intervention would depend on concrete evidence of links to drug trafficking networks.