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Hundreds of people have been killed<\/a><\/span> in the year since the U.S. military began bombing boats<\/a><\/span> it accused of ferrying drugs off Latin America\u2019s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Now, the Trump administration says it is seeking to extend that lethal campaign to land, pursuing deals that would put U.S. forces on the ground in allied nations across the region.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth<\/a><\/span>, announced last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S.<\/a><\/span> to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil, following Ecuador, which launched similar missions<\/a><\/span> with the U.S. in March. Guatemala, however, has denied reaching such an agreement.<\/p>\n It will be \u201clike you saw with the strikes on the drug boats,\u201d Hegseth said during a military drill in the jungle in Panama. \u201cSame effect on land. And so we\u2019re working with Ecuador. We\u2019re working with Colombia. We\u2019re working with partners to bring the fight to the (designated terrorist organizations) on land.\u201d<\/p>\n The expansion marks a new phase in the Trump administration\u2019s campaign to pressure governments across Latin America to align with its security priorities and assert what it calls<\/a><\/span> \u201cAmerican dominance over the Western Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n Voters across the region are increasingly embracing<\/a><\/span> Trump-aligned leaders, giving Washington more willing partners. But critics warn that the widening U.S. military campaign risks civilian casualties<\/a><\/span> and a backlash against the U.S. that could outlast the Republican administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going on is an attempt to legitimize the increased use of the U.S. military in the region,\u201d said Michael Shifter, a Latin America expert at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank. \u201cIt projects power, demonstrates military superiority and enables Washington to impose its agenda. This is not cooperation, it\u2019s obviously a very asymmetrical relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Escalating unilateral boat strikes to joint land operations<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. military has operated in Latin America for generations, supplying allies with weapons, intelligence and training to fight drug trafficking, while leaving a fraught legacy of support for military coups and dictatorships.<\/p>\n But since Trump returned to office in January 2025, Washington has pursued its most interventionist approach<\/a><\/span> to the region in decades.<\/p>\n His administration has designated 20 Latin American criminal groups<\/a><\/span> as \u201cforeign terrorist organizations,\u201d sent U.S. forces into Venezuela to capture its president<\/a><\/span> and involved CIA agents in drug lab busts<\/a><\/span> in Mexico. It has killed more than 200 people in over 60 boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, offering little evidence that those targeted were \u201cnarco-terrorists\u201d and drawing questions<\/a><\/span> about the strikes\u2019 legality.<\/p>\n But sustained U.S. combat operations alongside local forces would be \u201cnew and different,\u201d said William LeoGrande, a Latin America specialist at American University, testing deep-rooted sensitivities over national sovereignty and the presence of U.S. troops.<\/p>\n Hegseth provided few details about what joint operations with Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras would look like. But in Colombia, where Trump-backed Abelardo de la Espriella<\/a><\/span> took office this month, he raised the prospect of U.S. forces joining strikes against armed groups including the National Liberation Army, or ELN<\/a><\/span>, Colombia\u2019s last major guerrilla group. Hegseth said de la Espriella had requested greater U.S. military involvement.<\/p>\n \u201cAnywhere you traffic drugs or you threaten the American people or our partners, you are a target just like ISIS or al-Qaida,\u201d Hegseth said, equating drug traffickers with Islamic extremist groups that dominated U.S. national security priorities for decades.<\/p>\n On Saturday, following a drone attack by the ELN on troops, de la Espriella vowed the rebels would \u201cpay a high price.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns over US military presence in Latin America<\/strong><\/p>\n Ecuador has emerged as the clearest case of direct U.S. military involvement, launching joint raids with Washington despite voters overwhelmingly rejecting foreign military bases in a November 2025 referendum<\/a><\/span>. A New York Times investigation found that one strike on an alleged drug lab in March instead destroyed a cattle farm.<\/p>\n The push to extend such agreements has gained the most traction among Trump\u2019s ideological allies in the region \u2014 conservative leaders<\/a><\/span> elected on promises of aggressive crackdowns on crime in recent months<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Guatemala stands out as an exception. Its progressive government has worked closely with Washington on security despite political differences. But President Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo has denied agreeing<\/a><\/span> to joint anti-drug operations, saying they would be illegal without congressional approval.<\/p>\n Honduras, Colombia and Ecuador did not respond to requests for comment on Hegseth\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n A notable outlier from the new U.S. anti-trafficking alliance is Mexico, a major source and transit point for fentanyl and other drugs entering the U.S. Progressive President Claudia Sheinbaum has cooperated closely with Washington on security but resisted mounting pressure for a U.S. military role in fighting cartels on Mexican soil.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, the United States will have to define what \u2018joint operations\u2019 means in each of these countries. It may discover pretty quickly that this is something most governments \u2014 even governments on the right \u2014 are quite uncomfortable with,\u201d said Adam Isacson, a defense analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America.<\/p>\n \u2018There is only so much sovereignty they can cede\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Observers question whether a more militarized approach would produce lasting security gains. Shifter said the campaign may serve partly as a show of force, building on the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a><\/span> as the Trump administration seeks to offset foreign policy setbacks<\/a><\/span> elsewhere, including in the Middle East<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n