PANAMA CITY/MIAMI — Barely a week into office, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has cleared the way for the United States to join his government in direct military operations against drug-trafficking networks, U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday at a security forum in Panama — a sharp reversal after four years of friction between Washington and Bogotá under former President Gustavo Petro.
Speaking at a gathering of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, Hegseth told the assembled delegations that Bogotá's new government had authorized U.S. forces to work alongside Colombian troops. De la Espriella's administration, he said, had already asked the department to help Colombia "destroy terrorists and terror networks." With that, Colombia became the 19th nation to sign onto the coalition, a Trump administration security bloc that grew out of a March summit and now spans most of South America, Central America and the Caribbean under U.S. Southern Command.
