As the winds of interventionism from the United States (US) against Mexico and Venezuela intensify, in August alone, the Southern Command is conducting at least three military exercises in various Latin American countries. These actions seek to reinforce its strategy, which it claims will counter what it calls Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) or Transregional and Transnational Illicit Networks (T3Ns).
Since August 7, the Donald Trump administration has hardened its stance against the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro, equating him with the alleged leader of the so-called “Cartel of the Suns.” In response, the U.S. State Department, under the leadership of Secretary Marco Rubio, announced a reward of up to $50 million for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan leader.
The reward offer, authorized by the secretary under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP), came just two weeks after the Treasury Department designated the “Cartel of the Suns” as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” (SDGT), a status that allows the group’s assets in US jurisdiction to be frozen and criminalizes any transactions with it.
The situation has thus escalated into a tense crisis between the United States and Venezuela, as Trump ordered the deployment of US military troops to the Caribbean, near the Venezuelan coast.
According to information confirmed by Defense officials, the deployment ordered by President Donald Trump includes: the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), composed of the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, and USS San Antonio. Also included are 4,000 Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit.
The US Department of Defense published photos of the USS Iwo Jima, the ship leading the amphibious group heading to the Southern Caribbean.
At least three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the Aegis guided missile system are joining this unprecedented deployment: the USS Gravely, the USS Jason Dunham, and the USS Sampson.
The US Southern Command states that the operations are part of the strategy to combat drug cartels. For his part, President Trump warned that he would use “all means” of US power to stop drug trafficking.
The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands (COCOM) of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Faced with this scenario, Maduro announced the mobilization of 4.5 million soldiers to deal with what he described as “threats” from Washington, setting the stage for a potential conflict.
Mexico
The theater of operations unfolding in the region has been brewing for some time and intensified when Trump secretly signed an order directing the U.S. military to take action against drug cartels and other criminal groups in Latin America, as reported by The New York Times on August 8.
When referring to Latin America, this also includes Mexico. Since his first term in office (2017 to 2021), President Trump had already outlined the idea of bombing drug laboratories on Mexican territory. Later, during his campaign for a second term, Trump promised to deploy Special Operations and Naval Forces troops to “declare war on the cartels.”
For her part, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo categorically stated that “the United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. That is out of the question. Absolutely out of the question.”
The president affirmed that, through calls with Trump, no agreement has been reached on a possible U.S. intervention. “When they have brought it up, we have always said no, that we can collaborate in other ways, but not that. So no. We were even informed of this executive order and that it had nothing to do with the participation of any military or any institution in our territories,” said the chief executive.
Since 2022, at least 1,500 U.S. military and civilians have expanded their military exercises from Belize to Mexico. For the first time, U.S. troops were allowed to enter Mexican territory with the exercises called Tradewinds.
Military exercises in August
Currently, the Southern Command is conducting the Fuerzas Comando 2025 competition in El Salvador from August 18 to 29, with the participation of 16 elite teams from Argentina, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.
The 19th edition of Fuerzas Comando is being held at the Ilopango Air Base. More than just a competition, it serves as a strategic tool for Washington’s security policy and for strengthening alliances. Senior Southern Command officials say these exercises are intended to “address transnational threats that affect defense and stability throughout the region.”
Panama
Almost simultaneously, between August 17 and 18, the Southern Command held the Combined Jungle Orientation Course between the United States and Panama on Panamanian territory, at the Cristóbal Colón Base. The objective of this exercise was to train the armed forces of both nations in the survival and mobility skills necessary to operate in austere environments.
U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera noted that this exercise “underscores how Panama and the United States are expanding our security cooperation in ways that strengthen both nations.”
For his part, U.S. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, current commander of Southern Command, said during the activities that “training shoulder to shoulder with our Panamanian partners in one of the most demanding environments in the world builds confidence, improves our operational readiness, and prepares us to address shared security challenges throughout the region.”
Belize
Also in Belize, starting on August 6, a military event called AGILE BEAR 25 was held, an exercise involving members of the Belize Defense Force, the Belize Coast Guard, the British Army Training Support Unit, and Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo), which is Southern Command’s permanent military outpost in the heart of Central America.
AGILE BEAR has been presented as an exercise focused on the need to increase response capacity to “natural disasters and security challenges,” through multifaceted capabilities that guarantee “our strength through unity and consolidate the U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Task Force Bravo as the preferred partner in Central America,” according to U.S. instructors belonging to JTF-Bravo, based at Soto Cano Air Base in Palmerola, Honduras.
The strategy to combat organized crime has been dragging on with these military exercises since 2017. During Trump’s first term, through the Southern Command, led at the time by Admiral Kurt Walter Tidd, various initiatives were updated at the Latin American level to be implemented until 2027, called the 2017-2027 Theater Strategy.
The backbone of this strategy revolves around what the United States (US) refers to as established enemies in various spheres, calling them Transregional and Transnational Illicit Networks (T3Ns), through which they have justified various military exercises, humanitarian aid campaigns, support for human rights organizations, support for journalists, and even universities, as established in the 2017-2027 Theater Strategy.
Hence, the warlike scenario looming over the region is not new; it has been taking shape for some time. In 2020, the Southern Command even conducted a conventional war simulation between the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Roraima, which border Venezuela.
Original text by Santiago Navarro F. published by Avispa Midia on August 27th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.