US Strikes Three More Alleged Drug-Carrying Boats, Designates Colombia's Clan del Golfo as Terror Group

Is the U.S. carrying out legitimate actions against narco-terrorism, or adopting a counter-narcotics narrative to disguise imperialist ambitions?
US Strikes Three More Alleged Drug-Carrying Boats, Designates Colombia's Clan del Golfo as Terror Group
Above: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Dec. 16, 2025. Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Narco-terrorist cartels in Latin America have flooded the U.S. with drugs, while Nicolas Maduro's narco-regime and his allies elsewhere in the region harbor Iranian drones and Russian military personnel, while brutally crushing democracy. Regime change isn't optional when the actions of rogue governments ultimately affect the U.S., it's the only path to ending mass migration, the inflow of drugs and hostile foreign influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Establishment-critical narrative

The so-called war on drugs masks naked imperialism as Washington has deployed massive military force to dominate Latin America's resources and crush independent governments, summarily executing innocent fishermen and workers without trial based on fabricated evidence. This Monroe Doctrine revival seeks to install puppet regimes, exploit oil and minerals, and turn the hemisphere into a low-wage manufacturing colony for U.S. corporations.

Metaculus Prediction


Public Figures


Go Deeper


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO



© 2025 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.19.1

© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.19.1