The United States will send more than 4,000 Naval Marines and Navy members to the waters around Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of the drug trafficking, two US defense officials told CNN.
This is a dramatic demonstration of strength that will give President Donald Trump a wide range of military options if he wants to attack the cartels.
The sending of the Iwo Jima Amphibian Pronto (ARG) group (ARG) and the 22nd Expeditionary Marine Unit to the US Southern Command is part of a broader repositioning of military resources to the area, one of the authorities said.
A nuclear -propulsive attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon recognition aircraft, several destroyers and a guided missile cruiser are also being allocated to the US command of southern as part of the mission, authorities said.
A third person familiar with the subject said that additional assets “aim to address threats to US national security by specially designated narcoterrorist organizations in the region.”
This Friday (16), the US Navy announced the sending of the USS Iwo Jima of the 22nd Expeditionary Marine Unit, and the other two ships of the Amphibian Ready Group-USS Fort Lauderdale and USS San Antonio-but didn’t say where they were going.
One of the employees emphasized that military climbing is, for now, especially a demonstration of strength, which aims to send a message more than an intention of any intention of conducting accurate attacks on cartels.
The detachment of the Naval Marine Expeditionary Unit, however, has raised questions among some defense officials who are concerned with the fact that Marines are not trained to perform drug interception and combat drug trafficking. If this is part of their mission, they will have to count on the Coast Guard strongly, the authorities said.
Naval Marine Expeditionary Units were fundamental in the past in support of large -scale withdrawal operations; An expeditionary unit of Marines was parked for months in the East Mediterranean, for example, in the midst of tensions between Israel, Hamas and Iran.
A Navy Officer told the CNN that the Expeditionary Marine Unit “is ready to execute legal orders and support combatant commanders in the needs requested.”
The US military sent destroyers to the areas around the US and Mexico border in March to support the US control mission and reinforce US presence in the Western hemisphere.
The additional resources that are being transferred now, however, will be under the responsibility of the Southern Command of the US and should support you at least in the coming months, one of the authorities said.
A CNN He reported earlier that a memorandum signed by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, earlier this year stated that the “greatest priority” of US military personnel is to defend the homeland, and instructed the Pentagon to “seal our borders, repel ways of invasion, including illegal migration, narcotic trafficking, smuggling and human beings, and other criminal activities, and other criminal activities illegal in coordination with the internal security department ”.
The same memorandum also formally asked Pentagon employees “credible military options” to ensure unrestricted access to Americans to the Panama channel, the CNN at the time.
