Pentagon Eyes Guatemala for Joint Counternarcotics Operations as Arévalo Disputes Scope

The Pentagon is in active discussions with Guatemala about joint military operations against drug trafficking organizations, with U.S. officials telling The New York Times that operations could begin as early as next month ^[1][2]. The talks center on potential airstrikes and other forms of military assistance, and represent an extension of the Trump administration's counternarcotics campaign in Latin America, which has relied on executive branch authority under Article II of the Constitution and existing bilateral security cooperation agreements rather than new congressional authorization ^[3][POLITICO].

The factual predicate for those discussions is itself in dispute. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denied that his country has agreed to carry out joint anti-drug trafficking strikes with the U.S. military on Guatemalan soil, but confirmed a collaboration to "intensify" the country's fight against drug trafficking. Arévalo and Guatemalan Defense Minister Henry Saenz had spoken with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm terms for U.S. cooperation, after Saenz had requested help, with the deal intended to expand on a strategy implemented in 2024. The Guatemalan government's formal position drew a sharp legal line: "The Government of Guatemala desires to lead, with U.S. assistance, active military operations to combat U.S.-designated terrorist organizations within Guatemala," the government said, while simultaneously asserting that "there is no agreement that authorizes foreign military operations by any country on national territory."

That distinction matters under Guatemalan constitutional law. Arévalo's office stressed that Guatemala's Constitution stipulates that foreign military forces can only be deployed in the country if authorized by a two-thirds vote of the national Legislature. Arévalo noted that "the only body that can authorize operations involving soldiers in military operations within the territory is the Congress of the Republic," and that "the Guatemalan government is not requesting such cooperation and is not planning to do so." The Guatemalan government's framing, therefore, limits U.S. involvement to equipment, training, and advisory support conducted under existing bilateral agreements, stopping short of the independent operational role that U.S. officials reportedly discussed. Pentagon spokesperson Joel Valdez said the Department will continue working with trusted partners to "defend the Homeland and secure the Western Hemisphere," though officials declined to speculate on operational security.

The Guatemala discussions follow a model first applied to Ecuador. In early March, the United States and Ecuador launched joint military operations against "designated terrorist organizations" in the South American country amid the U.S. military's unilateral strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific accused by the Trump administration of smuggling drugs. One operation, dubbed Lanza Marina, focused on a compound believed to serve as a staging ground for high-speed boats linked to Los Choneros, a powerful Ecuadorian criminal organization, with American forces working in advisory roles, assisting and accompanying their Ecuadorian counterparts. That marked the first time the United States had participated in a ground operation in Ecuador. The Ecuador engagement itself generated legal scrutiny: the Pentagon inspector general recently launched a review into whether proper military targeting procedures were followed in the operations.

The broader regional campaign has accumulated a significant body count. The Trump administration began striking suspected drug-carrying boats in September in the Caribbean Sea and later the Eastern Pacific Ocean, a campaign that has killed at least 196 people. The administration has grounded that campaign in the President's designation of drug trafficking organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, a legal move that invokes 10 U.S.C. authorities governing operations against designated groups and that sidesteps the need for a new authorization for use of military force. The Defense Department also intends to press Honduras to accept similar joint military actions as part of a broader regional strategy.

Mexico sits at the center of the strategic calculus. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has maintained that she welcomes intelligence-sharing and security cooperation but will not accept U.S. agents or forces participating in operations on Mexican territory, while President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for greater use of U.S. military force to combat Mexican cartels and threatened that the U.S. could act unilaterally if Mexico does not do enough. The White House reportedly hopes to normalize a U.S. military presence across Latin America in an effort to gain leverage over Mexico, where U.S. agencies already have a presence to staunch the flow of drugs into the country. The Guatemala and Ecuador agreements, taken together, amount to a flanking strategy: building a ring of consenting partner nations around a Mexico that has refused to consent, thereby increasing pressure on Mexico City without requiring its cooperation.