Overview

• A classified presidential directive authorizes the Pentagon to conduct cross-border operations against cartels designated as terrorist groups without prior congressional approval.
• More than 4,000 Marines along with P-8 reconnaissance aircraft, warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and MQ-9B drones have been deployed to the southern Caribbean and flown over Mexican territory without any confirmed cross-border strikes to date.
• The Justice Department has seized assets linked to Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles and doubled the bounty on President Nicolás Maduro to $50 million.
• Mexico, Colombia and other regional governments have publicly denounced unilateral U.S. military actions and urged a coordinated diplomatic response.
• U.S. lawmakers and legal experts have intensified challenges to the secrecy and legality of the orders, citing War Powers concerns and risks to troop oversight.