The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, stated this Wednesday that the Executive of Abelardo de la Espriella has requested the cooperation of Washington to carry out joint military operations in Colombia against "narcoterrorism."
From Panama, where he is participating in a meeting of the military coalition promoted by the United States against the cartels, Hegseth explained that "Through the newly inaugurated president (...) Colombia has already requested that the Department of War --as the Trump Administration refers to Defense-- join the country in its fight against narcoterrorism, authorizing joint military operations to eliminate the terrorists and terrorist networks."
For now, Colombian institutions have not offered any public reaction to these statements.
The head of the Pentagon, who traveled this Wednesday to the Central American country, also announced that Colombia will join this regional alliance, known as Shield of the Americas, becoming the 19th participating State.
During his speech, Hegseth attacked "international leftism" and encouraged allied Latin American governments of Washington to abandon the Rome Statute and, consequently, the International Criminal Court.
According to him, "International leftism, along with its allied media, seeks to illegally impose the jurisdiction of the ICC over the personnel and military operations of the United States and its partners. It is striking that this supposed court and other globalist organizations undermine our efforts, while they do not hold accountable the real terrorists and tyrants."
In the forum, U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, the head of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), General Francis L. Donovan, and Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who held a prior meeting with Hegseth, also spoke.