MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of people have been killed in the year since the U.S. military began bombing boats it accused of ferrying drugs off Latin America’s 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.
\n\nPresident Donald Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced last week during a visit to Panama that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil, following Ecuador, which launched similar missions with the U.S. in March. Guatemala, however, has denied reaching such an agreement.
\n\nIt will be “like you saw with the strikes on the drug boats,” Hegseth said during a military drill in the jungle in Panama. “Same effect on land. And so we’re working with Ecuador. We’re working with Colombia. We’re working with partners to bring the fight to the (designated terrorist organizations) on land.”
\n\nU.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a forum of The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition in Panama City, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
\n\nThe expansion…
Original source: https://apnews.com/business
