Fujimori calls for designating criminal organizations as terrorist groups
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori and Chilean President José Antonio Kast addressed the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, portraying organized crime as a cross-border threat that requires governments to coordinate security policies, intelligence and law enforcement operations rather than treat it as an isolated national problem.
Fujimori went further than Kast by calling for criminal organizations to be formally classified as terrorist groups. “These organizations are terrorist groups and must be confronted for what they are: enemies of the democratic state and law-abiding citizens,” Fujimori said.
Fujimori said transnational organizations have imposed fear across Latin America through drug trafficking, illegal mining, smuggling, human trafficking, extortion and killings.
“Addressing this war as an isolated problem for each nation is not only a mistake that we have been making, but also an advantage granted to transnational criminal groups to strengthen themselves,” she said.
Fujimori said the terror designation would establish a legal framework allowing Peru’s armed forces to support the national police in confronting organizations that threaten domestic security.
Kast emphasized cooperation against transnational crime and said Latin American governments had begun moving beyond declarations and toward coordinated action. “For the first time in a long time, Latin American governments are truly coordinating, not only through statements, but by getting to know one another and coordinating to generate concrete actions against transnational organized crime,” Kast said.
The Chilean president highlighted the Compromiso de Santiago, an agreement promoted by his government to strengthen regional coordination against organized crime. Peru also participates in the initiative.
Fujimori said Peru’s participation in the Santiago agreement and its recent incorporation into the Shield of the Americas demonstrated its commitment to working with regional partners against criminal organizations.
The Shield of the Americas meeting was scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT in New York, according to Chilean news outlet Emol. The coalition, created by President Donald Trump, brings together more than 15 countries to coordinate efforts against drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations.
Peru formally joined the initiative this month after Fujimori’s meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Lima. Chile has participated as an observer but has not formally joined. Kast said Monday that he planned to attend the New York meeting if it did not conflict with his General Assembly schedule.
“This does not interfere with the sovereignty of countries,” Kast said. “It aims at coordination across different countries to confront this new scourge, for which many of our nations were not prepared.”