The Trump administration's expanded military campaign in Latin America has already claimed over 200 lives in more than 60 boat strikes across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. This lethal campaign, framed as anti-cartel, now extends to land, aiming to assert "American dominance over the Western Hemisphere" and impose Washington's security agenda.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. This follows Ecuador, which launched similar missions with the U.S. in March of the same year. Guatemala has since denied reaching any such agreement.
Hegseth, speaking from a military drill in the Panamanian jungle, declared the land operations would have the "same effect" as the boat strikes. He stated, "Anywhere you traffic drugs or you threaten the American people or our partners, you are a target just like ISIS or al-Qaida."
Imperial Expansion
This expansion marks a new phase in Washington's decades-long interventionist approach to the region, which has historically supplied allies with weapons, intelligence, and training. This legacy includes fraught support for military coups and dictatorships. Since Trump's return to office in January 2025, the U.S. has pursued its most aggressive stance in decades.
Washington has designated 20 Latin American criminal groups as "foreign terrorist organizations." It has sent U.S. forces into Venezuela to capture its president and involved CIA agents in drug lab busts in Mexico. The administration has offered little evidence that those killed in the boat strikes were "narco-terrorists," drawing questions about the legality of these actions.
Michael Shifter, a Latin America expert at the Inter-American Dialogue, described the campaign as an "attempt to legitimize the increased use of the U.S. military in the region." He added that it "projects power, demonstrates military superiority and enables Washington to impose its agenda," calling it an "asymmetrical relationship," not cooperation.
The Cost of Dominance
William LeoGrande, a Latin America specialist at American University, warned that sustained U.S. combat operations alongside local forces would be "new and different," testing deep-rooted sensitivities over national sovereignty and the presence of U.S. troops. The push to extend such agreements has gained the most traction among Trump’s ideological allies, conservative leaders elected on promises of aggressive crackdowns on crime.
In Ecuador, direct U.S. military involvement has already begun, despite voters overwhelmingly rejecting foreign military bases in a November 2025 referendum. A New York Times investigation found that one March strike on an alleged drug lab instead destroyed a cattle farm.
In Colombia, where Trump-backed Abelardo de la Espriella took office this month, Hegseth raised the prospect of U.S. forces joining strikes against armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s last major guerrilla group. Following an ELN drone attack on troops on Saturday, de la Espriella vowed the rebels would "pay a high price."
Critics, like Jeremy McDermott, co-director of the Colombia-based investigative organization InSight Crime, warn that military strikes are more likely to force armed groups to adapt by moving into civilian areas. He stated, "The U.S. bombs an ELN camp in Colombia or in Venezuela, what is the first thing the ELN are going to do? They’re going to dismantle all their camps and move into the villages and towns."
Resistance and Limits
Guatemala stands out as an exception. Its progressive government, led by President Bernardo Arévalo, has denied agreeing to joint anti-drug operations, saying they would be illegal without congressional approval. Mexico, a major source and transit point for fentanyl and other drugs entering the U.S., has also resisted mounting pressure for a U.S. military role on its soil, despite close security cooperation.
Adam Isacson, a defense analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America, noted that even right-wing governments face pressure regarding sovereignty. He said, "All of these presidents, no matter how far right they are, face pressure to do something about security... But they also know there is only so much sovereignty they can cede before public opinion begins turning against them."
Observers question whether a more militarized approach would produce lasting security gains. The campaign may serve partly as a show of force, building on the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as the Trump administration seeks to offset foreign policy setbacks elsewhere. The true cost, however, falls on the civilian populations caught between imperial ambition and local resistance.