On Friday night President Trump announced that Niño Guerrero, the leader of Venezuela-based terrorist organization Tren de Aragua, had been eliminated in a "swift and lethal kinetic strike" carried out by the United States Southern Command, in coordination with the Venezuelan government. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth discussed the strike on Sunday's "Face the Nation" and, saying that we used the same tactics to find and kill Guerrero that we used to kill al-Qaeda and ISIS leaders in the Middle East and put narcoterrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere on notice that we'll be using those techniques to destroy them, too.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 13, 2026
Host Margaret Brennan Brennan wondered why we didn't just "snatch and grab" Guerrero and bring him to the U.S. to face charges, like we did for ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, since Guerrero had also been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Obviously the fact that Maduro was the leader (albeit an illegitimate leader) of the country and not simply the leader of a terrorist organization was part of that strategy, but why would we risk the lives of elite special forces groups on a mission to take this dirtbag alive when we could simply blow him up? Hegseth also reminded Brennan that the mission was carried out in coordination with the Venezuelan government:
"[T]hey invited our military in because they have a foreign terrorist organization on their soil in Tren de Aragua. The founder and leader, we were able to identify where he was and kill him, just like we would kill al-Qaeda or ISIS, and we did in the Middle East. We treat these foreign terrorist organizations the same way, just like we do with drug boats when we identify they're run by those FTOs. So that's a great development."
Secretary Hegseth says that Tren de Aragua and other terrorist and narco trafficking groups in Latin America will be treated like ISIS and Al Qaeda and destroyed similarly.
— Daniel Di Martino (@DanielDiMartino) June 14, 2026
The neutralization of "Niño Guerrero" in Venezuela is just the start.pic.twitter.com/HcL942pvJa
Brennan followed up by asking if we should expect similar actions in Ecuador and Guatemala, whose governments are working with the United States. We absolutely should, Hegseth said:
"Yes, they should. It's called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, A3C, and we're forming it with partner governments all around Central and South America to go after, defeat, and destroy foreign terrorist organizations, drug cartels. And all those countries you named are stepping up to work on partnerships with the United States, where we work with their governments and their militaries with their special capabilities and our special capabilities to hunt terrorist networks in our own hemisphere, just like we showed we were very good at with ISIS and al-Qaeda in the Middle East for 20 years.
"It's an incredible reinforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, now the Donroe Doctrine. We're taking back control of our hemisphere and ensuring the poisoning and attacks on the American people end. So, it's- it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful military thing to behold, other countries coming to us to work with us, and we're going to take full advantage of it."
The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition is a 17-nation military alliance formed in March 2026 at the Shield of the Americas Summit. At that time, Trump told the various heads of state:
“The heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all. We’ll get rid of them. We need your help.”
One portion of the proclamation Trump signed establishing A3C says that the U.S. will work to deprive these organizations of "access to financing or resources necessary to conduct their campaigns of violence." Along those lines, is it possible that as the financial and logistical networks of these terrorist organizations are dismantled, we'll see leftist domestic terror groups wither on the vine? It's an interesting thought, as this X user outlined:
More.
— J.W. de Nashville (@C130GuyBNA) June 13, 2026
Since the president designated domestic terror groups such as antifa as actual terror groups and they have international ties…I’d love to see SOCOM raids snatching those black mask bitches up and kinetic strikes as well as @SecScottBessent & @SecRubio freezing the assets…
The full post reads:
Since the president designated domestic terror groups such as antifa as actual terror groups and they have international ties…I’d love to see SOCOM raids snatching those black mask bitches up and kinetic strikes as well as @SecScottBessent & @SecRubio freezing the assets of every person funding the domestic terror groups from the middle management up to the domestic/international bigwigs.
I would love to see it happen all at once. I’m sure you have drawn the network of domestic terror groups and who organizes, trains, equipped and execute riots/violence around the country. With speed, surprise, and violence of action I would like to see overnight the international pieces literally vanish and the domestic pieces suddenly find themselves dead broke and in handcuffs.
One big worldwide shock and awe campaign against antifa and similar domestic terrorist groups.
Every one of them should not feel safe at any time.
Let it begin.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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