Mexico and Caribbean
U.S. Prepares for Military Action in Caribbean and Along Southern Border
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to take direct actions against Latin American cartels, including conducting operations on foreign soil and in international waters. The New York Times reported on August 8, "President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations."
"The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct
military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels," the New York Times added. Military forces are now being deployed to the Caribbean, including off the coast of Venezuela.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said placing cartels on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list allows for the use of "other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever, to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it."
Rubio, on State Department social media, emphasized that the U.S. would confront "any threat" in the region saying, "The President has been very firm on this. Anything that is a threat to the United States of America, he is going to confront." Using the cartels as justification to intervene even in international waters, Rubio said, "There are designated narco-terrorist groups operating in the region. Some of them utilize international transits and international waters to transit poison into the U.S. Those groups will be confronted."
The big problem here is the fact that with broad impunity, Trump decides what is and is not a "threat," and conducts crimes on that basis.
Marines and Ships Deploy to Caribbean
Trump has now ordered 4,000 Marines and sailors and a nuclear-powered attack submarine to the Caribbean Sea and waters around Latin America, also in the name of targeting the drug cartels. The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), with three amphibious ships and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are being deployed and come under the military's Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). Additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser are also being allocated to SOUTHCOM as part of the mission, military officials said. This impacts Mexico as well as other countries in the region. Given the U.S. concept as world policeman, SOUTHCOM says its "area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central and South America and the Caribbean."
The Marines in the MEU are not trained to conduct drug interdictions and counter drug-trafficking, so they could be used for more aggressive purposes.
Rubio directly threatened Venezuela, using the Tren de Aragua gang,
another Trump designated "terrorist organization." This is the same
group the executive has used to detain and deport people with no
connection to Tren de Aragua, and no crime committed, including hundreds
of people from
Venezuela. Warships are being positioned off Venezuela's coast. Like the
gangster he is, Trump has also now doubled the bounty to $50 million
for any information to arrest Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro responded to the U.S. escalation in the region August 18 saying, "We defend our seas, our skies, and our lands. We liberated them. We guard and patrol them. No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela, nor should it touch the sacred soil of South America." The country has 4.5 million militia prepared, activated, and armed, Maduro added.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum firmly dismissed the possibility of a U.S. military invasion targeting cartels in Mexico. She said, "The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military." She added, "We co-operate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out."
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on August 18 responded to the U.S. escalation in the Caribbean saying, "We denounce the presence of U.S. naval and air forces in the southern Caribbean which, under false pretexts, respond to the corrupt agenda of the Secretary of State. Latin America and the Caribbean must be respected as a Peace Zone."
President of Colombia Gustavo Petro, responding to U.S. threats against Venezuela cautioned that "invading Venezuela would be the worst mistake," and opposed dragging Colombia into the situation. He said, "the gringos are mad if they think invading Venezuela will solve their problem."
Celso Amorim, a foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, warned of "the risk of an escalation" and emphasized that "the principle of nonintervention is fundamental."
Canadians and Quebeckers and people in the U.S. join those in Latin America and the Caribbean and call for making all the Americas a Zone for Peace. Together they denounce U.S. interference and aggression in the region and demand Hands Off! Bring All U.S. Military Forces Home!
Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, and peoples of the entire region, including many in the islands of the Caribbean, are standing against U.S. aggression and interference and defending their right to self-determination.
(The Hill, La Jornada, CNN)
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 7 - July-August 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/MS55074.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca