The United States has engaged in efforts to counter drug operations in Latin America. In 1989, president George H. W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama to depose the country's de facto dictator, Manuel Noriega. The invasion was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly as a "flagrant violation of international law". The United States later provided intelligence about flights with civilians suspected to be carrying drugs to Columbian and Peruvian officials; after several planes were shot down, the Clinton administration ceased its assistance in providing information. Additionally, the United States Navy has intercepted ships believed to be used for drug smuggling operations. The United States Armed Forces broadly engage in joint anti-drug training exercises with other countries, including Colombia and Mexico.[11]
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum publicly opposed the prospect of U.S. drone strikes on cartels in April.[12] In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, speaking to Sheinbaum the previous month, proposed sending in U.S. soldiers to assist in the country's drug war, a suggestion she rejected.[13]
The Central Intelligence Agency joined the military campaign after confirming that it would play a significant role in combating drug cartels, just as it is considering using lethal force against these criminal organizations.[16]
According to The New York Times, "specialists in the laws of war and executive power" stated that Trump lacks the legal authority and precedent to kill suspected drug smugglers.[17]
DEA poseter with $50million reward for Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro
On 8 August 2025, Donald Trump, authorised the Pentagon to use military force against Latin American drug cartels and doubling the reward for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to $50 million.[18] On 20 August, Trump ordered to send three Navy warships to the coast of South America.[19][20] As of 29 August, seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, were in and around the Southern Caribbean, bringing along more than 4,500 sailors and marines.[21]
Venezuela said it would mobilize more than four million soldiers in the Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela; the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the militia had 343,000 members as of 2020.[5] Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro said he "would constitutionally declare a republic in arms" if the country is attacked by forces that the United States government has deployed to the Caribbean and stated "Venezuela is confronting the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years".[22][23]
PBS News reported that Trump was using the military to counter cartels he blamed for trafficking fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the U.S. and for fuelling violence in American cities, stating that the government had "not signaled any planned land incursion"[24] – similarly, The Guardian stated that "many experts are skeptical the US is planning a military intervention" in Venezuela.[6]
September 2025
On 2 September, Trump stated that the U.S. had executed a strike on a boat believed to be carrying drugs, killing eleven suspected gang members and hinted at further military action, stating: "There's more where that came from."[25][26] The following day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that military actions against cartels in Venezuela would continue.[27] Secretary of state Marco Rubio, speaking in Mexico City, said that further strikes would occur, adding that the U.S. was aware of the identities of those on the destroyed boat, but did not provide evidence to authenticate their identity as Tren de Aragua members.[28]
In response to the presence of Navy warships in Latin America, two Venezuelan BMAF-16 fighter jets flew over the USS Jason Dunham on 4 September.[29] The U.S. Department of Defense called it “highly provocative” and has deployed ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.[30][31] That same day Rubio met with Ecuadorian president Daniel Naboa in Quito; Rubio stated that Trump intended to "wage war" on those that have "been waging war on us for 30 years" and designated the gangs Los Lobos and Los Choneros as narco terrorists, in agreement with Naboa.[32][33]
During a surprise trip on 8 September to Puerto Rico with U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, Hegseth told sailors and Marines assigned to the area: "What you're doing right now – it's not training ...This is the real-world exercise on behalf of the vital national interests of the United States of America to end the poisoning of the American people."[34]
The Venezuelan government stated on 13 September that a U.S. destroyer had detained and boarded a Tuna boat with nine crew members on it. The destroyer eventually releases the boat, and it was escorted away by the Venezuelan navy. Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Yván Gil responded that this act was illegal and added that Venzuela would defend itself.[35]
On 15 September, Trump announced that the U.S. military conducted a second "kinetic strike" on a vessel against alleged "narcoterrorists" in international waters, killing three people.[36][37] The next day, Trump revealed that the U.S. military had sunk a third alleged Venezuelan drug-running boat.[38]
In a display of its military strength, Venezuela initiated large-scale military exercises in the Caribbean on 17 September. The maneuvers, involving naval and air forces, are intended to bolster the nation's defense capabilities and demonstrate its readiness to protect its sovereign waters.[39]
On 19 September, Trump announced that fourth vessel, allegedly carrying drugs had been destroyed by American forces and that three people had been killed in the strike.[40] The Dominican Republic, later stated that under its National Directorate for Drug Control and the Dominican Navy it had cooperated with the U.S. Navy to locate the boat, which was about 80 nautical miles South of Dominican controlled Beata Island. After the boat was destroyed the Dominican Navy salvaged 377 packages of cocaine amounting to 1,000 kilograms (2,200lb). The Directorate stated that “This is the first time in history that the United States and the Dominican Republic carry out a joint operation against narco terrorism in the Caribbean,”.[41] Meanwhile, Venezuela has said it would seek a United Nations probe of U.S. strikes in international waters off its coast.[42]
On 23 September, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro addressed the UN General Assembly to call for a “criminal process” to be opened against Donald Trump for U.S. strikes in the Caribbean.[43]
In August 2025, over thirty organizations urged the United States Congress to oppose the war on cartels.[53]
International
Regarding U.S. military action against the cartels, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum stated: "The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion."[54]
Colombia convened an extraordinary virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in September 2025, which concluded with an expression of "deep concern" over foreign intervention in the region.[55][56] Over Guatemala's objection that procedures were not followed, the group issued a statement saying the region must remain a "Zone of Peace" based on "...the prohibition of the threat or use of force, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the promotion of dialogue and multilateralism, unrestricted respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, and the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination."[55] Guatemala's president Bernardo Arévalo said Guatimala was included in the list of 21 countries (of the 33 members) approving the text, although it did not sign, nor did Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.[57]
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United States 
Dominican Republic [3] 
Venezuela 
Cartel of the Suns (alleged)
CJNG 
Sinaloa Cartel 
LNFM 
Gulf Cartel 
Cártel del Noreste 
