The U.S. Sends Troops Into Latin America — But Not to Venezuela

Over the past month or so, Donald Trump has talked a lot about having narco-activity largely under control in the seas surrounding North and South America, which often leads to him saying something like "next we'll do it on the land." Many people take that, run with it, and scream about how that means "war in Venezuela!" That's not the case. 

What I've always taken it to mean is that we're simply going after the known land paths for drug trafficking in the Americas. As a matter of fact, few people seemed to a catch on, but in late October, while speaking to the press before boarding a plane, Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded to a reporter who asked about that. "Suffice it to say that there are dogs on the ground as well," he said. "We're aware of that. And the good news about that too is that we have officials in Ecuador, in El Salvador, in Guatemala, in these countries in the region, in Panama."

Here's a glimpse of that in action. 

Up until the last five or six years, Ecuador was once one of the safest, most peaceful countries in Latin America. Now it's not. Homicide rates are high, and extortions, kidnappings, and high-profile crimes are common. As a matter of fact, I actually just did a search to see if anyone in the MSM is covering what I'm about to tell you, and the only thing I could find related to Ecuador in the news was that a professional soccer player was murdered on Wednesday. 

Mario Pineida, who was a defender for Barcelona S.C., was shot in Guayaquil. And even ESPN attributes it to the rise in crime in the country. "Ecuador is expected to have its most violent year on record with more than 9,000 homicides, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime," the sports media outlet reports. "That figure was at 7,063 violent deaths last year and a then-record 8,248 in 2023."  

The reasons for this sudden crime wave are largely the same as the rest of the region: drug trafficking (it's a major hub for getting cocaine from Colombia and Peru to the U.S. and Europe), cartel crime, gang violence, and mass migration from Venezuela straining infrastructure and services. It's also causing many Ecuadorians to migrate in record numbers. This is one of many reasons why staying involved in the Western Hemisphere is important for our country. This is why getting rid of Maduro will have a positive effect on all of us. But I digress. 

Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa is one of our closest allies — Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem have visited the country in recent months —and Noboa and President Trump are both extremely dedicated to stopping drug trafficking and cartel crime and cleaning up our countries and our hemisphere. On Wednesday, Noboa made the following announcement on X (translated from Spanish): 

With the backing of the United States, we activated a temporary operation alongside the Ecuadorian Air Force in Manta, as part of a long-term bilateral security strategy.

This operation will enable the identification and dismantling of drug trafficking routes, and the submission of those who believed they could take over the country.

So, we're deploying members of our Air Force to Ecuador's Manta air force base, which was actually a U.S. base from 1999 until 2009. The country currently has a ban on foreign military bases, and last month voters there rejected the idea of making exceptions as part of the current fight against cartels and drug trafficking. However, because this is a temporary joint effort, it doesn't break those laws. We're just flying in to give them a little boost to their own operations.    

The U.S. embassy in Quito said, "This short-term joint effort is carried out as part of our long-term bilateral security strategy, in line with the currently valid agreements in accordance with Ecuadorian law. The operation will enhance the capacity of the Ecuadorian military forces to combat narco-terrorists, including strengthening intelligence gathering and anti-drug trafficking capabilities, and is designed to protect the United States and Ecuador from the threats we share." 

I'm all for it. 

As I said, the MSM isn't reporting on this. It's too busy implying that "land strikes" mean OMG WAR IN VENEZUELA! The man who calls himself the "Peace President" isn't starting wars, just cleaning up the crime and corruptions that's making our country less safe with the help of our regional allies. Less crime in South America means less crime in the United States. 

Help us report the stories the MSM won't tell you by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. Right now, memberships are 60% off or less than $20 for the entire year. In addition to supporting us, you gain access to exclusive stories and podcasts, the comments section where you can interact with our team and other readers, an ad-free experience, and much more. Click here to get started.