New Warning from U.S. Southern Command After Colombia Joins Shield of the Americas

A little more than a week after Colombia formalized its entry into the Americas Coalition Against Cartels (A3C), within the framework of the Shield of the Americas initiative, and became its 19th member, the U.S. Southern Command published a suggestive video.

The piece takes on greater relevance and gives the impression of imminence after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reported that Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella had authorized joint operations in his country with U.S. troops.

“By air, land or sea, taking the fight to the enemy”

Colombia’s entry into the A3C, according to the Colombian Ministry of Defense, took place following De la Espriella‘s directives, and to reaffirm Colombia’s commitment to a coordinated hemispheric response to terrorism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and other threats affecting the security, stability and prosperity of the region.

In that context, the U.S. Southern Command, a large unit that brings together different branches of its armed forces to operate specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, published a video in recent hours in which it states that it “is changing the game,” and that “whether by air, land or sea, U.S. forces are taking the fight to the enemy.”

One of the elements that draws attention in this audiovisual piece is that it is marked by the famous ticking sound of a countdown that also characterized the first videos of the military operations in the Caribbean Sea, which ended with the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on January 3 of this year.

“Together with our partners in the Americas Coalition Against Cartels, we are applying total systemic friction against the narcoterrorist networks that spread terror and instability throughout the region,” the Southern Command video continues. “U.S. military forces are deployed in the #SOUTHCOM area of responsibility in support of the Western Hemisphere Joint Task Force, operations led by @DeptofWar.”

It also says that these actions are directed at President Donald Trump’s priorities “to disrupt illicit drug trafficking, deter malicious actors and protect the homeland through a continuous presence.”

The video, less than a minute long, shows different military activities, beginning with the movement of a U.S. Navy vessel, helicopter operations, men in action with some people captured, and ending with striking bombings, not only at sea but also on land.

Colombia willing to fight alongside the United States

Following Hegseth’s statements in Panama that “through the newly inaugurated president (…), Colombia has already requested that the Department of War join the country in its fight against narcoterrorism, authorizing joint military operations to eliminate terrorists and terrorist networks,” significant expectations arose in the South American country.

Those statements were followed by statements from the Colombian Ministry of Defense, which announced that the bilateral cooperation agreement with the United States is intended to strengthen joint work between the Colombian public security forces and the United States Department of War.

That instrument, the Defense Ministry added, deepens a strategic relationship built over decades and will make it possible to strengthen capabilities, share information, coordinate efforts and increase operational effectiveness against the terrorist and criminal organizations that threaten the Colombian State and population.

Defense Minister Jorge Enrique Mora stressed that transnational threats recognize no borders and that no state can confront them in isolation.

Consequently, Colombia offered to place its capabilities and experience at the service of hemispheric security, leading strategic efforts in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea together with the nations that are members of the Shield of the Americas.

For the Ministry, the purpose is unequivocal: to prevent criminal organizations from replacing the authority of the State and to guarantee that, throughout the entire territory, the Constitution, the law and the legitimate monopoly on the use of force prevail.

To all these statements is added the video published by the Southern Command. Piece by piece, they are putting together a puzzle of actions that will surely become clearer as the weeks go by.