U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned Latin American governments on Thursday that Washington is ready to launch a unilateral military 'offensive' against cartels, urging them to combat 'narcoterrorists'. 'In our neighborhood's interest, it is our preference and the goal of this conference that we do everything together with you, with our neighbors and allies,' Hegseth stated in his inaugural speech in Miami. The official led the inaugural conference of the 'Americas Against the Cartels' at the headquarters of U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) in Florida, where he reaffirmed that President Donald Trump's new Monroe Doctrine or 'Donroe' justifies military attacks on drug traffickers in Latin America. Hegseth demanded of the guests, military and security representatives from most countries in the region, with exceptions like Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, to 'go on the offensive against the narcoterrorists'. 'We will dismantle the narcoterrorist networks in this hemisphere and deny access to the state adversaries who support them,' he expressed. The conference occurs days after the first joint military operation by the United States and Ecuador against 'narcoterrorist' organizations in the South American country, following a visit this week by Francis Donovan, commander of Southcom. Additionally, the Trump administration has bombed 44 vessels allegedly linked to drug trafficking in the Pacific and the Caribbean since last September, leaving at least 150 dead under the 'Southern Lance' operation. 'You must do more and we must do more to attack the narcoterrorist groups in all areas.' 'We are your primary partner to work, together and through your nations, to achieve shared objectives, but when necessary, we will not hesitate to act,' Commander Donovan warned. Hegseth justified his actions by citing that 'more than 1 million Americans' died from fentanyl, cocaine, and other drug overdoses under the Joe Biden administration (2021-2025), while the human trafficking industry 'exploded' by 2,000% to a value of $13 billion in 2022. Although the Americas have one-eighth of the world's population, they account for one-third of violent crimes, Hegseth pointed out. 'This is an operational conference to bring our countries closer to a shared objective and to do so aggressively. It is not a one-way street, every partner in this region has to do more and invest more in security as well,' commented the secretary. Hegseth scheduled another conference for Thursday afternoon in Tampa, in central Florida, to discuss Iran at Central Command (Centcom).
