US Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH) is preparing for operations against Latin American cartels that could include raids in Mexico or other foreign countries. President Donald Trump wants the Pentagon to be prepared to conduct bombings, drone strikes, and raids in Mexico by mid-September.
Ken Klippenstein and William Arkin reported on Friday reviewing internal Department of Defense documents that show, “SOCNORTH is directed to fight the cartels in the same way that the U.S. military has fought terrorists in the Middle East for the last two decades.” SOCNORTH has dedicated about half of its 300 personnel to anti-cartel operations.
In a separate article by Klippenstein, he explains that the Pentagon will be prepared to conduct attacks in Mexico next month. “The Trump administration has directed the military to prepare for lethal strikes against cartel targets inside Mexico,” he wrote at his Substack on Wednesday. “The Top Secret planning order, issued in late Spring, directs Northern Command (NORTHCOM) to manage the attack plans, which are to be ready by mid-September.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected any US military operations in Mexico. “We will never put our sovereignty at risk, we will never put Mexico’s independence at risk, Mexico is a free, sovereign, independent country,” she said. “We collaborate, we co-ordinate on security matters and others, but we never subordinate ourselves, and we will never, ever allow the US army or any other institution of the US to set foot in Mexican territory ever.”
After Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration began listing Latin American cartels as a terror group. Then, President Trump authorized the military to attack those gangs, even on foreign soil.
The US has also deployed three guided missile destroyers and an attack submarine to the South Caribbean Sea, near Venezuela. The Trump administration has also listed Venezuelan cartels as terror groups, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims President Nicolas Maduro is the leader of Cartel de los Soles.
Maduro views the warships off Venezuela’s coast as a threat and mobilized millions of militia troops.
