The U.S. Coast Guard is evaluating whether to station cutters in Panama as one component of the military’s broader effort to crack down on cartel activity throughout the Western Hemisphere.
asserted
Guard → evaluate → Hemisphere
The commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Kevin Lunday, directed Vice Adm. Jo-Ann Burdian, the commander of the Atlantic Area Coast Guard, to review the possible creation of a Western Hemisphere Expeditionary Cutter Squadron in April.
asserted
commandant → direct → April
While the order to move forward with the plan has not yet been given, Burdian told the Washington Examiner that if it does get approved, “We’ve been directed to have those forces in place by the end of the calendar year.
asserted
We → move → year
So, we are looking toward a couple of final details, but they have not yet been approved or decided upon.
asserted
they → look → details
So, we’re still in that planning process.”
asserted
we → ’re → process
Earlier this year, the Coast Guard held a training with Panama and 17 other partner nations called PANAMAX 2026, and it “showed us the value of having cutters permanently in the space down there,” Burdian added.
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Burdian → hold → space
Panama is strategically located between Costa Rica and Colombia and has access to both the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
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Panama → locate → Sea
“I think the nice thing about [possibly] establishing the ECS in Panama is you can really go anywhere in the region from Panama, and when we allocate assets to a combatant commander, we sort of rely on them to work with us on where they ought to operate.
uncertain
they → think → us
I’m not sure we would need to station or establish additional squadrons elsewhere in the region to support the region in the way that they need,” she explained.
asserted
she → ’m → that
“We operate globally, but we’re typically home-ported in the United States, and for the first time this year, we’ll have a six-cutter squadron that’s stationed between Subic (Philippines) and Singapore and the Western Pacific, and are [thinking about] duplicating that expeditionary cutter model here in the Western Hemisphere,” Burdian added.
asserted
Burdian → operate → Hemisphere
The Trump administration has prioritized defense of the Western Hemisphere, which in practice has meant a whole-of-government approach: the State Department designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned several entities connected to those cartels, while the military strengthened its partnerships with regional partners and began using lethal force.
asserted
military → prioritize → force
The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, released in December 2025, states its goal is to “ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States,” and it wants the regional governments to “cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations.”
asserted
governments → release → terrorists
Burdian said her review “really is the commandant responding to that demand signal, understanding that the landscape of force allocation to the Department of War has changed, given where the conflicts are, where the priorities are, and directing me as the operational commander in the Western Hemisphere theater to say, ‘Hey, take a look at establishing something like that in the Western Hemisphere.’
asserted
priorities → say → Hemisphere
So, that’s what’s ongoing now.”
asserted
what → ’ → ?
The Coast Guard used to be the primary entity involved in stopping the maritime drug trade, but it’s now paired with U.S. Southern Command, strengthening its military-to-military relationships with more than a dozen Central and South American countries.
asserted
it → use → countries
In September 2025, U.S. forces began targeting suspected drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean lethally.
asserted
forces → begin → Sea
These strikes have killed approximately 230 mariners since the campaign began.
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campaign → kill → mariners
In late July, a Pentagon inspector general report revealed that U.S. Southern Command estimated it spent roughly $820 million on the mission.
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it → reveal → mission
U.S. forces have also carried out several interdictions of logistic support vessels off Ecuador’s coast since late August.
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forces → carry → August
“The fact that the cartels, several of the cartels in the region, have been designated as terrorist organizations now gives the joint force and the national security apparatus in the United States more authority to act in our own best interest, where perhaps we’ve been constrained before,” said Gen. Joseph Ryan, Western Hemisphere Command’s commanding general.
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Ryan → designate → interest
“Make no mistake, these are designated terrorist organizations
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these → make → mistake
They are global economic syndicates that have created a business model that is survivable, has survived over decades, and will continue to survive unless we disrupt the economic side of it.
asserted
we → create → it
Burdian and Ryan appeared on a panel with Gen. Luis Cardozo, the Colombian army attache to the U.S., at AUSA, the annual Army conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
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Burdian → appear → Monday
“To confront [the cartels] requires a system, a robust system, because these groups have been able to insert themselves in the society in a very important way, and they feed themselves within there,” Cardozo said through a translator.
asserted
Cardozo → confront → translator
“That’s why it’s fundamental that when those groups cross the border, they don’t find a safe space to sustain themselves there, and that’s precisely what we see with this cooperation with this alliance.
asserted
we → ’ → alliance
That those criminal groups don’t have a place to find a safe space to hide.”
asserted
groups → have → space
The U.S. military also carried out an airstrike in June in coordination with Venezuela targeting Hector Rusthenfold Guerrero Flores, the leader of Tren de Aragua, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and carried out a joint U.S.-Ecuadorian operation targeting a training camp used by the Comandos de la Frontera.
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military → carry → Frontera
Panama has allowed the U.S. to conduct jungle training and other exercises on its soil, and El Salvador has opened bases to armed U.S. aircraft.
asserted
Salvador → allow → aircraft
Guatemala has said it wants “to lead, with U.S. assistance, active military operations” against U.S.-designated terrorist organizations within the country, as well.
asserted
it → say → country
Not only do the cartels traffic drugs, but many have also begun mining illegally to exploit natural resources.
asserted
many → traffic → resources
“They also use illegal mining, and I know in many countries in Latin America, this is happening also because they found in gold another source of finances.
asserted
they → use → finances
They destroy the environment, destroy the habitat of the citizens, and achieve great resources so they can finance themselves,” Cardozo added.
asserted
Cardozo → destroy → themselves
The Aporia
