WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - National Security Matters Ep. 12 - Dealing with Drug Cartels

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

This week, Malia Thibado discusses how the Trump Administration is facing the threat of cartels and other criminal organizations from Central and South America.

Security Matters, the show where we discuss anything and everything related to U.S. international relations and defense policy. I'm your host, Malia Tivodeau. Today, let's talk about the Trump administration's campaign in Central and South America to eliminate cartels and other criminal organizations in what Trump is calling, quote-unquote, non-international armed conflict. In the last two months, the administration has come under consistent fire for its use of force against multiple boats which allegedly carried cartel members intent on bringing drugs into the U.S. On September 2nd, the U.S. struck down a Venezuelan vessel that supposedly had 11 members of the organization Trin de Aragua. On September 15th, the U.S.

conducted another strike killing another four people. So far, at least 21 people have died in these strikes. One of the big issues is the attacks are in international waters, meaning the U.S. is attacking another country's civilian ships outside of American jurisdiction. Trump then wouldn't have legal standing to either declare war or take action against another country or non-state actor without Congress, per its sole constitutional right, giving a formal declaration of war. Trump's legal rationale in place of that is for self-defense against future harm, against terrorism. This is under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which dictates international law. It says, quote, nothing in the present charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against the member of the United Nations.

The U.S. used the same justification for its war on terror after the 9-11 attacks, along with a growing understanding in the international community that states can be held responsible for terror attacks committed against other nations. In fact, many of the cartels and criminal organizations the Trump administration is targeting are, since February of this year, formally designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department. The boat attacks are just the prelude, though. In the biggest U.S. military buildup since the Cold War, the U.S. has deployed eight warships, some submarines, and 10 F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Caribbean under the Southern Command's new Counter-Narcotics Joint Task Force. Southern Command is the designation for the U.S. military structure

in the Central and South America as well as Caribbean. The task force will be headed by the Second Marine Expeditionary Force, which, as described on its website, is a combined arms force consisting of ground air and logistic forces, possessing the capability for projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a period of 60 days. With more than 47,000 Marines and sailors, it is representative of the largest and most powerful marine air ground task for. task force will help coordinate interagency collaboration with Homeland Security and other intelligence agencies. However, as published, the task force's main objectives are to gather intelligence and conduct training. We'll see if that remains so. I think the list of objectives they're releasing publicly is probably not exhaustive.

This administration's focus on eliminating the root cause of the newest drug. Epidemic extends not only to international waters or Venezuela, but also to Mexico and the rest of South America. I cover a bit of the armed kinetic strategy, but the U.S. is also providing intelligence and assistance to partner nations in the region to help them combat their own corruption and crime. Hopefully we'll see positive ramifications of that in the future. This is Ben Malia Tevito with National Security Matters on WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.