Guatemala requests US military cooperation against drug trafficking

Guatemala has requested US military cooperation spanning access to equipment, training and experts to assist Guatemalan operations against drug trafficking, the country’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, said on Thursday.The joint plans stopped short of US military operations on Guatemalan soil and fall within existing bilateral agreements, the government noted.“There is no agreement authorizing foreign military operations on national territory,” the government said in a statement.It added that Arévalo and Guatemala’s defense minister, Henry Sáenz, had spoken with the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, to confirm the terms for US cooperation, after Sáenz had requested help. The deal was intended to expand on a strategy implemented in 2024.“We have discussed the possibilities of intensifying the collaboration that has been taking place within the framework of existing bilateral agreements,” Arévalo told reporters.The New York Times first reported on the recent talks. In a report on Wednesday, it characterized the move as part of a broader White House strategy to normalize a US military presence across Latin America to gain leverage over Mexico. The Pentagon also intends to press Honduras to accept joint military action, according to the report.The Pentagon said it would not speculate on future operations or discuss matters of operational security.“Under Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, the department will continue working with trusted partners to defend the homeland and secure the western hemisphere,” a Pentagon spokesperson, Joel Valdez, said in an emailed statement.The White House said the “administration continues to work to carry out the president’s agenda”.The Honduran embassy in the US did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has long maintained she welcomes intelligence-sharing and security cooperation but will not accept US agents or forces participating in operations on Mexican territory.Donald Trump has repeatedly called for greater use of US military force to combat Mexican cartels, and has threatened that the US could go it alone if Washington feels Mexico is not doing enough.The Trump administration began striking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific last September, insisting it was in effect at war with what it calls “narco-terrorists” operating out of Latin America.But it has provided no definitive evidence that the boats it targets are involved in drug trafficking, prompting heated debate about the legality of the operations.Trump launched a multinational cartel-fighting alliance at a summit in March with Latin American leaders, including one of his staunchest allies on the continent, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.The US has previously teamed up with Ecuadorian forces to conduct joint strikes against cocaine-smuggling guerrillas in the South American country.International cartels, with help from local drug traffickers, traffic drugs and launder money in Guatemala and other Central American countries, fueling regional violence.Ninety per cent of the cocaine that reaches the United States passes through Central America and Mexico in trucks, aircraft, boats and submarines, according to US officials.