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Colombia and United States Agree to Joint Military Operations Against Narcotrafficking

morning · · thread: President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella Announces Key Appointments and Cabinet Progress

8 sources across 7 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • UOL Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Folha
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • El Espectador Colombia · Centre-left · Grupo Santo Domingo
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • Bloomberg United States · Centre · Bloomberg L.P. (Michael Bloomberg)

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

Colombia has authorized the United States to conduct joint military operations within its territory to combat narcoterrorism, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday in Panama. The agreement marks Colombia's formal entry into the Shield of the Americas, also known as the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C), a regional military alliance led by US President Donald Trump that includes approximately 20 countries. The move represents a significant diplomatic shift under Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who has pledged an all-out war against organized crime and rebel groups, contrasting with the previous administration of Gustavo Petro.

As part of the cooperation, the United States intends to provide a 1 billion US dollar security package to Colombia. The agreement was formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed by Hegseth and Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Mora. While the Colombian Ministry of Defense stated that the cooperation respects national sovereignty and international law, the alliance is part of a broader US strategy to dismantle trafficking networks. Hegseth described the regional effort as a means to ensure a safer home by securing the US backyard, while also mentioning protection against malignant foreign actors.

The announcement comes amid controversy over US military tactics in the region. Since September 2025, the US has conducted a campaign of strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. Hegseth claimed these operations have caused a record drop in narco-vessel movements. However, human rights organizations and international jurists have denounced these attacks as extrajudicial killings, with reports citing between 215 and 221 deaths. In response to these criticisms, Hegseth urged coalition members to reject the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that the tribunal's power is lawless and that US operations are lawful under the laws of armed conflict.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
These outlets emphasized the human rights concerns regarding extrajudicial killings and the controversial nature of the ICC dispute.
Centre
These outlets focused on the strategic and diplomatic shift in relations between the US and the new Colombian government.
Centre-right
Not present in the provided sources.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.