As The New York Times summarizes, Donald Trump’s declared war on Latin American cartels poses a dilemma that goes beyond public security. The designation of these groups as terrorists and the order to the Pentagon to use force against them intersect with a past of interventions that still weighs heavily on the region’s collective memory.

The decision triggers fears that the U.S. might return to a pattern of military interference in the region that dates to the Monroe Doctrine.

The US under President Donald Trump is crafting a confrontational approach toward Latin America that signals a willingness to use military force against drug cartels, discarding the Biden administration’s preference for carrots over sticks to coax countries into alignment with US interests.