Trump strategy fails
“It doesn’t solve the problem”
An analysis by Marc Pfitzenmaier
July 12, 2026 – 7:39 a.mReading time: 5 minutes
Trump’s campaign against drug cartels in Latin America is intensifying. But experts doubt that the strategy will achieve its stated goal.
Marc Pfitzenmaier reports from Mexico City
A building surrounded by dense greenery in rural southern Venezuela, captured from a bird’s eye view. As soon as the outlines are visible, an explosion tears the facility apart and a huge cloud of smoke rises.
US President made these recordings Donald Trump a few weeks ago publicly announced the operation against the alleged leader of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Latin America. Trump spoke of a “swift and deadly military strike” against the head of the Tren de Aragua gang and said the operation was carried out in close coordination with Caracas.
This action was the most demonstrative in a series of measures to date Washington has been conducting or supporting in the region for over a year. These include bombings of suspected drug boats, large-scale raids on drug gangs and deeper military cooperation across the continent.
Officially, the focus is on the fight against drug trafficking. But research and expert assessments suggest that militarization is hardly curbing smuggling, while there is much to suggest that it is no longer just about cartels, but also about expanding American control over its southern neighbors.
Trump is spending billions on the “war on drugs.”
Synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl, methamphetamine, but also cocaine, are responsible for the deaths of thousands of US citizens every year. Trump has declared the fight against these substances a matter of national security. Since the beginning of his second term, numerous drug cartels and gangs have been classified as terrorist organizations and up to five billion dollars have been invested in fighting them.
Washington itself justified the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January with his alleged involvement in international drug trafficking. Since then, the military influence of the USA Nowhere in Latin America is it as open as in Venezuela. The targeted killing of the leader of Tren de Aragua is the latest example of Washington’s increasingly direct role in the country.
“There is no evidence that there is less cocaine on the market”
But experts doubt whether Washington has come any closer to its goal so far. Renata Segura from the International Crisis Group tells t-online: “Neither the bombing of the boats nor the attacks on the mainland seem to have achieved anything so far. There is no evidence that there is less cocaine on the market.” The Latin America expert points to the difficult data situation. The US government does not release any information about the results of its operations.
