Americas Against Cartels: US Drug War Takes a Regional Shape

Washington's expanding military campaign against drug trafficking networks, formalized through the "Americas Against Cartels" pact signed March 5,  is reshaping the security and trade environment across Latin America, with direct implications for Mexico. Despite joining the US in the operation that killed CJNG leader El Mencho, Mexico did not attend the conference, signaling its intent to maintain sovereign terms in bilateral cooperation even as Washington escalates pressure through sanctions, cartel terrorist designations and unilateral military action. 

Washington and 16 nations across Latin America and the Caribbean formalized a joint commitment March 5 to take on narcoterrorist organizations, gathering at the first-ever "Americas Against Cartels" conference at US Southern Command facilities in Florida. The meeting proceeded without Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth delivered the joint declaration on behalf of the signatories, a document that reaffirms bilateral and multilateral ties, pledges respect for national sovereignty and acknowledges the hemisphere's strategic weight as a pillar of regional stability. Under the terms of the pact, member states committed "to address future threats to mutual interest and unite to jointly combat 'narcoterrorism' and other shared threats in the Western Hemisphere."

Nations represented at the table included Argentina, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.

Hegseth put attendees on notice that the US stands ready to move against cartels alone if necessary, calling on regional governments to take direct action against narcoterrorist networks within their own borders. 

White House national security adviser Stephen Miller went further, arguing that drug trafficking organizations deserve the same treatment as groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda, and describing illegal immigration as a "form of terrorism."

Beyond security cooperation, both officials wove a broader ideological thread through their remarks. Hegseth described attending nations as "offsprings of Western civilisation" and framed the conference as a test of whether their countries would "remain Western nations with distinct characteristics, Christian nations under God, proud of our shared heritage with strong borders and prosperous people ruled not by violence and chaos but by law." He also warned that foreign "incursions" posed "existential questions" for the region, in an apparent reference to China's expanding economic and political presence in the Americas.

The conference came days after the first joint US-Ecuador military operation targeting narcoterrorist organizations, following a visit by Southcom commander Francis Donovan. The Miami gathering precedes the "Shield of the Americas" summit, which President Donald Trump is scheduled to host on March 7 with right-leaning Latin American heads of state.

US Drug War Operations Expand Amid Questions Over Real Intent

The "Americas Against Cartels" conference marks a further escalation in Washington's offensive posture toward drug trafficking networks across the region. It follows months of direct military action. Since September, the Trump administration has targeted 44 vessels allegedly carrying narcotics in the Pacific and Caribbean under Operation Southern Lance, a campaign that has left at least 150 people dead.

Hegseth has defended the strikes, saying they "will continue, day after day, because these are not simply drug traffickers, they are narcoterrorists who bring death and destruction to our cities." The strikes, conducted without congressional approval, have drawn condemnation across the region. UN-designated human rights experts have questioned their legality, describing them as "extrajudicial executions." The Trump administration has not indicated any intention to change course.

Analysts have raised doubts about the United States’ purpose. The most lethal drug in the US remains fentanyl, which according to the DEA, Justice Department and Congressional Research Service is produced almost entirely in Mexico using precursors imported from Asian countries including China.

Meanwhile, cocaine from South America does move by sea, but around 74% transits the Pacific, while the Caribbean, accounts for roughly 16% of shipments bound for the US, according to 2019 DEA estimates, the most recent available. Experts consulted by BBC Mundo said those figures remain broadly accurate.

"We are talking about illicit markets, so all we have are estimates from seizures," said Elizabeth Dickinso, Analyst, International Crisis Group. "But based on seizure numbers, official data and conversations with regional security forces, everything points to the Pacific as the dominant route."

Analyst Elizabeth, Analyst, Dickinson of the International Crisis Group has suggested the administration's military actions and policy moves in Latin America may be serving a broader political purpose beyond drug enforcement: pressuring governments into alignment with Washington.

Dickinson pointed to the Caribbean strikes as a direct instrument of leverage against Venezuela. Colombia offers another example. Trump publicly accused President Gustavo Petro of being a "drug trafficking leader," and Washington followed by adding him to the Treasury Department's OFAC sanctions list. Petro initially rejected the designation, though the pressure ultimately pushed both sides toward negotiations.

Mexico Seeks Cooperation Without Ceding Sovereignty

The absence of Mexico from the "Americas Against Cartels" conference reflects the complex and often tense state of US-Mexico security relations under the Trump administration.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has consistently sought a bilateral security framework that preserves national sovereignty. When US-Mexico coordination led to the killing of CJNG leader Nemesio "El Mencho," Sheinbaum was careful to clarify that "the military operation was planned and executed by Mexican Special Forces," with Washington providing only intelligence support.That posture signals Mexico is willing to cooperate, but on its own terms. 

While both governments have declared the operation a success, experts caution that the results may fall short of expectations. Leadership decapitation alone, analysts argue, is unlikely to dismantle entrenched cartel networks, leaving the broader trafficking infrastructure largely intact. 

Vanda Felbab-Brown, expert on non-state armed groups, Brookings Institution said the aftermath could bring prolonged instability.  “El Mencho’s removal is like saying that a company is going to fail because you take out the CEO,” Chris Dalby, Senior Analyst, Dyami Security Intelligence. “Not at all. The flow of drugs is going to continue … and there are going to be plenty of pretenders to the throne. And Mexico is going to have to figure that out.”