{"id":1555777,"date":"2025-08-16T01:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1555777"},"modified":"2025-08-16T01:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T05:20:00","slug":"u-s-southcom-deploying-4000-troops-to-latin-american-waters-as-counter-narco-terror-operations-loom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/u-s-southcom-deploying-4000-troops-to-latin-american-waters-as-counter-narco-terror-operations-loom\/1555777\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. SOUTHCOM Deploying 4,000 Troops To Latin American Waters As Counter-Narco-Terror Operations Loom"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. SOUTHCOM Deploying 4,000 Troops To Latin American Waters As Counter-Narco-Terror Operations Loom<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Trump administration is preparing for a large force projection across the Latin American and Caribbean theater.<\/p>\n

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) will deploy 4,000 Marines and sailors to counter narco-terrorist cartels. The move aims to enhance hemispheric defense and deter or limit Chinese activity in the region, particularly around critical infrastructure and trade chokepoints.<\/p>\n

The news of this first comes from CNN<\/a>, citing unnamed officials who stated:<\/p>\n

The deployment of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to US Southern Command, which has not been previously reported, is part of a broader repositioning of military assets to the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility that has been underway over the last three weeks, one of the officials said.<\/em><\/p>\n

A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser are also being allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission, the officials said.<\/em><\/p>\n

A third person familiar with the matter said the additional assets are \u201caimed at addressing threats to US national security from specially designated narco-terrorist organizations in the region.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

While the deployment is intended primarily as a deterrent, it gives SOUTHCOM prepositioning and allows Trump broad military options if he orders action against narco-terrorists. Officials note the Marines aren\u2019t trained for drug interdiction and would need Coast Guard support.<\/p>\n

The incoming buildup follows a Pentagon directive making border security, counter-narcotics, and protection of the Panama Canal top priorities. The deployment shifts U.S. assets from earlier Northern Command border operations to a sustained SOUTHCOM presence.<\/p>\n

Last week, The New York Times reported that Trump\u00a0issued a directive authorizing the Pentagon to conduct direct military operations against certain Latin American drug cartels.\u00a0Shortly afterward, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum\u00a0rejected<\/a> the future presence of U.S. military forces on her soil.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

By Wednesday evening,\u00a0open source intelligence analysts posted flight tracking data of a\u00a0General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper\u00a0spy drone<\/a> operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that flew deep into Mexico.<\/p>\n

The broader move here by the Trump administration is clear: Enhance\u00a0hemispheric defense through counter-narcotics operations and maritime security. The second objective is to\u00a0deter and limit Chinese activity in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By making moves to secure the Western Hemisphere, the Trump administration plans to disrupt command-and-control nodes between China and Latin American drug cartels that have waged irregular chemical warfare<\/a> on the American people through the fentanyl crisis.<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0Heritage Foundation<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

It might only be a matter of time before the U.S. Department of the Treasury moves to target Mexican and Chinese banks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 08\/15\/2025 – 21:20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/military\/us-southcom-deploying-4000-troops-latin-american-waters-counter-narco-terror-operations<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. SOUTHCOM Deploying 4,000 Troops To Latin American Waters As Counter-Narco-Terror Operations Loom The Trump administration is preparing for a large force projection across the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1555778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1555777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1555778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}