Latin America’s most cartel-plagued nations are freaking out over President Donald Trump’s crackdown against cartels.
Trump authorized the U.S. military to target Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in early August, while the U.S. military followed up by deploying assets to the southern Caribbean sea to curtail cartel activity. In reaction, Mexico and Venezuela have been scrambling to put together a cohesive response to the effort, with Mexico trying their best to placate Trump while Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro made thinly veiled threats against America.
“The Trump Administration is committed to protecting our homeland from the threat posed by foreign cartels,” a senior State Department official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Secretary Rubio will continue to advance an America First foreign policy agenda that prioritizes keeping our country and the American people safe.”
Secretary Rubio, in a post on X, added that the administration is using “every tool to protect the safety and prosperity of the American people” from these organizations.
The Trump Administration will use every tool to protect the safety and prosperity of the American people. @StateDept is designating eight cartels and transnational organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) February 21, 2025
Just days after Trump reportedly authorized the military to target cartels, Mexico handed over 26 criminals to the U.S., with many of them leaders of dangerous drug cartels and human smuggling organizations. Among the prisoners were leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generation (CJNG) and Los Zetas cartels.
Mexico has long had problems with drug cartels, who hold considerable influence in the nation, from the countryside to the heart of Mexico City’s politics. Corrupt dealings between the cartels and the Mexican government go as high up as the President Claudia Sheinbaum’s office, with two former state ministers being charged with involvement in a drug trafficking operation.
Debates over U.S. intervention got so intense that Mexican Senators came to blows in their own chamber while debating how to handle potential U.S. incursions against cartels.
Maduro in Venezuela has objected fiercely to recent U.S. military deployments off the nation’s coast, which are officially on an anti-cartel mission in international waters and airspace. In reaction to reports of the deployment, Maduro said August 18 he would “defend our seas, our skies and our lands” and hinted at “the outlandish, bizarre threat of a declining empire.”
The dictator then mobilized millions of militia soldiers in Venezuela August 19 to “ensure coverage of the entire national territory.” Venezuela has also deployed its own warships and drones to its coastline as U.S. forces bear down on the region.
The U.S. has sent three Aegis-class destroyers to the southern Caribbean, each equipped with guided missiles.
On day one of the Trump Administration, the President published an Executive Order designating drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, clearly identifying them as a direct threat to the national security of the United States,” A White House official told the DCNF. “Together with regional partners and in support of President Trump’s direction to defend the homeland and counter illicit activity, the U.S. will confront, deter and, if necessary, defeat threats to that security.”
Multiple cartels and gangs operate out of Venezuela, including the now-infamous Tren de Aragua, which originated from a brutal prison in the nation and made its way to American shores under the Biden administration. The U.S. has singled out the Cartel de los Soles as the reason for sanctions and deployments to the southern Caribbean, with the Treasury Department accusing the dictator himself of running the criminal organization.
“The Treasury Department will continue to execute on President Trump’s pledge to put America First by cracking down on violent organizations including Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, and their facilitators, like Cartel de los Soles,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing sanctions against the cartel.
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