Trump’s Aid Freeze Hampers Anti-Narcotics Programs in Latin America

The Washington Post

19:36 JST, March 18, 2025

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – As Latin America’s drug trade surges, the Trump administration’s aid freeze has brought crucial anti-narcotics programs to a screeching halt.

The administration paused virtually all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department, including its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. INL has supported governments and security forces worldwide to combat organized crime, human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Last year outside Bogotá, Colombian law enforcement officials captured “El Hombre” – the alleged ringleader of one of the largest drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean. The officers used skills taught to them months earlier by U.S. law enforcement under the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, according to an internal program report.

Colombia’s army commander described the capture of Erick Mosquea, the alleged leader of the “Falcon Network,” as “an important blow to international drug smuggling.” U.S. authorities had been on the Dominican drug kingpin’s tail since 2016.

In a statement to The Washington Post on Friday, Colombia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, known as ICITAP, has been suspended, and that other training programs have been affected across the security forces and government.

“Given the status of the United States as Colombia’s main strategic ally in defense and security, most of the cooperation programs transcend to all levels, which is reflected in the operational development in the fight against drugs and transnational threats in general,” the statement said.

The State Department’s aid freeze curtailed a fentanyl screening program in Mexico’s largest port. In Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer and a U.S. ally in combating the drug trade, 18 Black Hawk helicopters were grounded after funding for fuel and maintenance was paused.

Washington has begun to issue waivers for these initiatives and some other frozen programs. According to the State Department, waivers for $7.8 million in INL funding have been granted for programs in Mexico to counter production and trafficking in fentanyl, and to dismantle terrorist criminal organizations. But other programs and investments remain paused.

In Ecuador, one of the biggest cocaine-trafficking hubs, the country’s navy planned to begin construction this year on a $7 million dock for anti-narcotics operations along a coastline that has gone largely unprotected in recent years; the project is now on hold. In Mexico, about 60 INL contractors were terminated – roughly half of the contract force, one official said. Offices that train police and prosecutors, which relied on INL funds, have been hit by the freeze.

The Trump administration is “undertaking a whole-of-government review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda,” a State Department official said in a statement.

Aid “implementing agencies” this month were sent a lengthy questionnaire asking, as part of the review, for a self-declaration that they have not “collaborated with” or been accused of working with terrorist entities, “cartels, narco/human traffickers,” as well as “groups that promote mass migration in the last ten years.”

It also asked whether they are compliant with U.S. policy blocking any funding for abortion counseling, work with any entity “that espouses anti-American beliefs,” have received funding from China, Russia, Cuba or Iran and whether funded projects “reinforce U.S. sovereignty by limiting reliance on international organizations or global governance structures.”

“The high irony is that just about every dime of U.S. counter-human smuggling training and capacity building comes out of INL,” said John Feeley, who served as an ambassador to Panama under the first Trump administration. “What is the Trump administration’s top priority? Stopping illegal and undocumented migration. They shot the golden goose right in the leg.”

A force trained by the U.S.

The freeze has revealed the region’s deep dependence on U.S. counternarcotics programs – and upended it.

For decades, INL has funded programs helping governments around the world strengthen their criminal justice systems and combat international drug trafficking and organized crime.

In Colombia, INL programs have been crucial to boosting the capacity of its police since 1985. Alberto Lara, a former vice minister of defense in the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, said the partnership between Colombian security forces and INL has been essential to combating the growth of transnational criminal organizations.

“The police intelligence would not be what it is today without INL,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst in Colombia for the International Crisis Group.

Dickinson said she worries the freezes will pull Colombia – the most important, stable and trusted U.S. partner in South America – further away from the United States.

“It’s really the moment that Colombia starts asking, is this the right decision geopolitically?” Dickinson said. “If the U.S. is not a dependable partner, Colombia is going to have to look elsewhere.”

A former Petro government security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, estimated that the government depends on the United States and U.S. allies for 70 percent of its security resources.

Over the past month, the official said, it has forced the government to begin looking into new partnerships – on technology and security – with other countries, including India, Turkey and countries in the Middle East.

Confusion and delays in waiver process

Much of the U.S. funding to address drug trafficking and other criminal activity goes to international organizations with which the United States closely coordinates. Among them, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime receives about a quarter of its annual budget of about $420 million from the United States – all of which was frozen last month.

While UNODC has been notified of some waivers, much of the money still has not been released and it remains unclear which programs will be permanently cut after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s review is completed.

Unlike some other U.N. and international agencies, most of UNODC spending is program-specific, with INL as well as the Justice and Homeland Security departments requesting and funding specific programs based on U.S. priorities.

In Central America, UNODC has set up cybercrime units and trained local law enforcement to intercept communications used by smugglers to recruit migrants and by sex traffickers. In Southeast Asia, a program counters online scammers, who often target Americans.

In addition, the UNODC publishes an annual World Drug Report, a key source of data on global narcotics flows that is used by U.S. agencies. It operates a lab to detect new synthetic drugs and runs a container screening program in at least 80 ports, including Mexico, training officials and supplying advanced equipment to combat smuggling.

Last week, following complaints from U.S. lawmakers, the UNODC received notification of a waiver for the port container control program in Mexico, although the long-term continuation of that program and others are still subject to the 90-day review to determine what should be permanently stopped. (The pause in aid to the container program was first reported by Reuters).

A number of international aid organization officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid attracting unwanted administration attention, said both the waiver and review processes have been rife with conflicting instructions from different U.S. funding agencies.

In Guatemala, INL has supported a task force that identifies and destroys chemical precursors – including those used for fentanyl. U.S. officials have hailed the program as a success, with five seizures of fentanyl precursors in three months. INL said in a statement to The Post on Friday that “the unit continues to receive INL funded support through DEA.” But while the program was granted a waiver, the full funding hasn’t resumed, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment on the record.

Even as waivers emerge, officials said, damage has already been done – programs dismantled, bills unpaid and staff lost.

And it’s not just about the halt of the programs, but the way they were publicized, said the former Colombian security official. The news of the Black Hawk helicopter aid freeze gave armed groups information allowing them to find gaps in the armed forces’ resources, the former official said, a dangerous development as the country faces some of its worst waves of violence in years.

ICITAP, the law enforcement training program, had recently launched a project to train about 600 Colombian police officials in investigating and tracking money laundering – crucial specialized skills to dismantle powerful criminal organizations, according to a former official involved in international security cooperation in Colombia.

The program, which had been in the works for years, is now suspended.