Oct 24, 2025, 8:46 p.mOct 24, 2025, 8:46 p.m
The USS Gerald R. Ford, here in Norway. (Archive image, September 2025)Image: keystone
The US government’s fight against drug cartels from Latin America has reached a new level of escalation: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dispatched an aircraft carrier to the region, just hours after the latest attack on a boat allegedly loaded with drugs became known. US President Donald Trump also announced a tough crackdown on drug smugglers – both at sea and on land. However, there is a lot of criticism of the current approach.
Hegseth, who now calls himself war minister, made public a new strike against alleged drug smugglers at sea on Friday. Hegseth announced on
Hegseth threatened to continue to take consistent action against drug cartels. He is in line with Trump. “I think we’re just going to kill people who bring drugs into our country,” the president said on Thursday. He once again announced that he would also like to take action against the cartels on land. Trump announced that he would inform Parliament about how to proceed. He had already said on Wednesday: “We will attack them very hard if they come by land.” He did not give details about when and how these attacks would be carried out.
Trump: Permission not needed for further attacks
However, Trump does not want to seek explicit permission from the US Parliament for further attacks on drug smugglers. A journalist had previously asked why Trump did not ask Congress for a formal declaration of war when he had already declared war on the cartels and the Republican-dominated Parliament would probably agree to his request. Trump replied: “I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war.”
According to the Constitution, the US President is commander in chief of the armed forces, but only Congress can officially declare war. In practice, only a few presidents have chosen this path – more often they have opted for other legal instruments through which they could order military operations even without a formal declaration of war.
US attacks at sea for weeks
In recent weeks, the US military has repeatedly attacked boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Dozens of people are said to have been killed. The approach drew a lot of criticism, also because the legal basis for the attacks is unclear. The United Nations called on the US government to show restraint.
US media recently reported that the President assessed the situation as meaning that the United States was in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The US government therefore classifies the drug cartels and the suspected smugglers associated with them as “unlawful combatants”.
Drawing a parallel to religiously motivated terrorism, Trump called the drug cartels “the Islamic State of the Western Hemisphere.” Hegseth compares it to the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.
Lula criticizes the US actions
Shortly before a possible meeting with Trump at the Asean summit in Malaysia, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized recent US military attacks against suspected drug smugglers off the coast of South America. “If this prevails, everyone will believe that they can invade each other’s territory to do whatever they want,” Lula said on a trip to Indonesia, according to a report by TV Globo. “Where is the respect for the sovereignty of the countries?”
Concern about escalation: troop relocation and maneuvers
In view of the latest developments, there is growing concern in the region that an escalation could occur: According to media reports, the US military has already relocated combat aircraft, naval ships and helicopters to the Caribbean in recent weeks.
The aircraft carrier “USS Gerald R. Ford” that has now been deployed is powered by a nuclear reactor. The 333 meter long ship is named after the 38th President of the USA and can accommodate up to 90 fighter jets and helicopters as well as several thousand soldiers.
The Venezuelan military, for its part, practiced national defense during a maneuver. Air defense units have been stationed at strategic points, said President Nicolás Maduro. Any attempt at destabilization will fail, said Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López. (sda/dpa)