Special Investigations

Press Freedom Defense Fund

Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ Supercharges Violence in the Americas

The Trump administration’s aggression in the Americas has resulted in cartels fragmenting and embracing new strategies.

The Trump administration’s aggressive diplomatic and military engagement in the U.S.’s backyard — dubbed the Donroe Doctrine — has led to more violence in the Americas, increased impunity by local security forces, and heightened danger from cartels in the Western Hemisphere, according to a new analysis by a top violence watchdog, shared with The Intercept.

“U.S. pressure on organized crime is accelerating the spread of militarized security approaches in the region,” according to Sandra Pellegrini and Tiziano Breda, senior Latin America analysts with the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, known as ACLED. “Growing volatility in the organized crime ecosystem will likely fuel an increase in violence throughout the rest of Trump’s term, potentially undermining any short-term improvements achieved through hardline approaches.”

President Donald Trump has turned the Western Hemisphere into a war zone as part of what he and others have called the Donroe Doctrine. This bastardization of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine has been used to justify strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean; an attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its president; CIA operations in Mexico; joint counter-cartel operations in Ecuador dubbed “Operation Total Extermination”; and increased military and intelligence operations elsewhere in Latin America.

“In countries where cartels’ revenue sources are most diversified, the spread of militarized security strategies has led to counterproductive results, such as group fragmentation and intensified competition,” according to the ACLED analysis. In Ecuador, the capture or killing of gang leaders has led to a proliferation of splinter groups. The reported number of gangs there increased from 24 in 2023 to 37 by the end of last year. And after José Adolfo Macías, the leader of the gang Los Choneros, was extradited to the United States, another group — Los Lobos — was able to push into its rival’s strongholds, fueling more violence, the analysts........

© The Intercept