OAN Staff Addie Davis
12:38 PM – Thursday, June 4, 2026
Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, traveled to Guatemala to coordinate with local leaders on strengthening regional defense and scaling up operations against cartels and narco-terrorist networks.
His visit to the Latin American country was announced after SOUTHCOM conducted a strike against a suspected drug-trafficking vessel on Wednesday as part of its continued operations to combat foreign narco-trafficking flowing into the U.S.
“SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan is in Guatemala to meet with senior government leaders to discuss strengthening the bilateral security partnership and collaborative efforts to combat cartels and narco-terrorists,” the command posted to X on Thursday.
The announcement went on to emphasize Guatemala’s participation in the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition.
“Guatemala is a member of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition whose vital contributions have dealt a significant blow to narco-terrorist networks in the region,” SOUTHCOM continued.
In a March proclamation, President Donald Trump reiterated that foreign cartel networks and other transnational gangs have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) in the U.S., meaning that the GOP administration will continue dedicating significant resources toward their elimination.
“These international entities control territories and commerce, extort political and judicial systems, wield arms and field military capabilities, and use assassinations and terrorism to achieve their ends,” Trump said.
He also recognized that in support of the efforts to combat these criminal organizations, the secretary of war established the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which is “a pledge from military leaders and representatives from 17 countries demonstrating that the region is ready to operationalize hard power to defeat these threats to our security and civilization.”
Representatives of these nations, which include the U.S. and Guatemala, signed a joint security declaration at the Americas Counter Cartel Conference in early March, declaring their intent to:
- “Expand multilateral and bilateral cooperation to enhance security in the Western Hemisphere”
- Cooperate in government efforts “regarding border security; countering narco-terrorism and trafficking; securing critical infrastructure and other areas as mutually determined”
- “Advance ‘Peace through Strength’ to address future threats to our mutual interests”
- “Join a coalition to combat narco-terrorism and other shared threats to the Western Hemisphere”
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