PANAMA CITY: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth floated on Wednesday the possibility of joint strikes on Colombian armed groups, as he welcomed the nation into a military-led counter-narcotics coalition after its conservative president took over last week.
Colombia had authorized “joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks,” Hegseth told a gathering of the US-led Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition in Panama.
“Yes,” he replied when asked if he had discussed with his Colombian counterpart joint strikes against armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), which the US designates as a terrorist group, and remnants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
“Designated terrorist organizations, with partnered governments, will be legitimate targets of the United States government,” to include Colombia, Hegseth said when asked if such operations were expected.
President Donald Trump’s Latin American policy has expanded dramatically beyond its early focus on the Panama Canal.
