CNN International Correspondent Isobel Yeung asked a Mexican drug cartel member to reply directly to President Donald Trump after being labeled a “terrorist” by the government.
In February, the United States labeled a number of drug gangs and cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” implementing an executive order signed by Trump on the first day of his second term and laying the groundwork for a slew of increased enforcement operations.
Yeung met with a masked member of the Sinaloa Cartel as part of an in-depth story on the bloodshed and consequences of the drug trade in Mexico that aired on Friday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, prompting criticism from conservatives.
During the interview, Yeung invited the man to talk directly to Trump, but she also addressed him about the brutality against innocent people in Mexico, asking, “Do you have any sense of remorse?”
YEUNG: So we’ve just entered an area of the city that is still very dangerous. After weeks of trying, our contact here on the ground has managed to secure a meeting with a member of the cartel who’s involved apparently in the production of drugs. And so we’re meeting him now in somewhere around here in an undisclosed location.
(through translation): How are you?
YEUNG (voice-over): This man is talking to us on the condition we hide his identity and location.
YEUNG: Can I pull up a chair?
YEUNG (voice-over): He says he produces fentanyl for the Sinaloa cartel.
YEUNG: How safe or dangerous is this area to be in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Right now, all areas are dangerous.
YEUNG: The Mexican military are making a big effort to crack down on the drug production here. How are you responding to that and how does that impact your work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They’re doing a good job. There are more of them now, so we have to find a way to keep doing this, to keep working. Of course, on a smaller scale, not the same as before. But it continues.
YEUNG: I mean, according to the Trump administration, you are a terrorist. I mean, the cartels have been labeled a foreign terrorist organization. What do you make of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Well, the situation is ugly. But we have to eat.
YEUNG: What’s your message to Donald Trump if he’s watching this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): My respect. According to him, he’s looking out for his people, but the problem is the consumers are in the United States. If there weren’t any consumers, we would stop.
YEUNG: There is a lot of violence playing out on these streets here at the moment every day, right? I mean, people are dying on a daily basis. Children are afraid to go to school. Do you have any sense of remorse over your role and your involvement in this group?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Of course. Of course. Things are sad, but — well, things are sad.
YEUNG (voice-over): His phone is pinging. Someone is nearby. He tells us we need to leave for our own safety.