"We are going to do bad things with bad people," said Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of Defense, two weeks ago from the jungle of Panama. In the Central American country, a large-scale military exercise was held for the first time in thirteen years, with army helicopters, soldiers, and ships from the US and a handful of Latin American countries.
Hegseth then made an announcement: after the attacks on 'drug boats,' military operations on land will take place in Latin America. Boots on the ground. A big step in cooperation against drug crime. And especially a new step for the so-called Shield of the Americas, a coalition established to tackle drug cartels in the region.
Using military means against organized crime was the idea when this shield was founded in March this year in Miami. Eighteen countries are now members. Cooperation against transnational criminal organizations seems logical, but the true intentions of the group were immediately questioned at its founding.
That had everything to do with the countries that were not invited to participate. Brazil, by far the largest country in Latin America; Mexico, neighbor of the United States and home to the largest drug cartels in the world; and Colombia, where 70 percent of all cocaine in the world comes from. They were not on the list, very likely because their government leaders were (too) left-wing for the US government.
Almost all members, except Guatemala, are governed by right-wing governments. Colombia is now a member but was only allowed to join the coalition after the right-wing Abelardo de la Espriella became president.
The question is: how does the 'Shield of the Americas' intend to make a difference with military ground operations in the fight against organized crime, especially if Mexico and Brazil do not participate?
New step War on drugs
In the past year, the US has already shown military force in the region with airstrikes on alleged drug boats, in which at least 221 people have been killed to date. Proof that drugs were actually smuggled on these boats has not yet been provided.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was abducted from his home on suspicion of drug smuggling. In the Caribbean and Central America, former US military bases were reopened. With operations on land, the Americans seem to want to take a new step in their War on Drugs, supported by their self-forged anti-cartel coalition.
According to the US, Honduras and Guatemala agreed last month to the deployment of ground troops. In Ecuador, joint military operations have even already begun, although US commandos mainly had an advisory role during operations and primarily shared intelligence and provided support to Ecuadorian soldiers during attacks on drug gangs.
Colombia seems to be the next front, now that De La Espriella has asked the US for military assistance in his fight against the ELN, the last major guerrilla group in the South American country.
Cooperating with the US against criminal organizations is not new for Latin American countries. In their more than fifty-year anti-drug war, the US has conducted operations abroad, with varying results. From large-scale destruction of coca crops in Colombia to training and arming agents in Mexico: drug production did not decrease and smuggling routes were merely shifted. Moreover, violence increased in many countries due to the military focus, partly because cartels also became better armed.
Despite that history, the US now again seems to focus solely on a military approach to drug crime in Latin America, with the deployment of ground troops as a new escalation. Clarity about strategies and objectives is lacking so far: the coalition has not progressed beyond flashy press conferences and statements.
In many Latin American countries, the deployment of foreign troops on their own territory is also prohibited by constitution. The risk of civilian casualties is also high, especially if the coalition starts firing rockets "right into the living rooms" of cartel bosses, as President Trump threatened.
Drug crime in Latin America has become a complex problem over the past decades, partly due to the globalization of crime, the rise of cybercrime, and ties with corrupt politicians. The question is whether an ideologically driven, military coalition is the answer to that.