IRTF News

So far, at least 29 people have been killed in strikes the Trump administration upholds are targeting drug traffickers off the coasts of Colombia and Venezuela, raising alarm among some legal experts and Democratic lawmakers, who question whether they adhere to the laws of war.

Currently, the US is building up a prominent military presence in the Caribbean and bordering coastlines, one that includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 jets, and the authorization of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, the US president is accusing Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, of being an “illegal drug dealer” and threatening to immediately cut US funding to the country. The remarks come after Petro said the US committed “murder” following a strike on an alleged drug boat in Colombian territorial waters in September. The US is also threatening to impose major tariffs on Colombia.

Late in Trump’s first term, the Justice Department convened the Joint Task Force Vulcan to catch senior members of the notorious MS-13 gang who, from their base in El Salvador,  were directing the organization’s activities in the US (including kidnappings, drug trafficking and murders). Eventually, nine MS-13 gang leaders were taken into US federal custody.

But now President Bukele of El Salvador wants them back.

Why?

The gang leaders have threatened to exposed Bukele’s alleged deals his government made with MS-13 to help achieve El Salvador’s historic drop in violence. It’s also a key step in hindering an ongoing U.S. investigation into his government’s relationship with MS-13.

Early this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio brokered a deal to make both Trump and Bukele look good. Trump needed a foreign partner to accept deportees regardless of nationality or legal considerations. Bukele, condemned by human rights advocates for curtailment of civil liberties, sweeping accumulation of executive power and oversight of a prison system beset by abuse, needed to ward off threats to his reputation as a crime-fighting visionary (and “the world’s coolest dictator,” as he describes himself).

The deal between Rubio and Bukele granted the Trump administration access to a sprawling foreign prison dubbed the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, that would become integral to Trump’s ongoing efforts to conduct the “largest deportation in American history.”

Read this compelling article based on accounts from dozens of officials from the United States and El Salvador, lawyers representing MS-13 gang members, prosecutors, diplomats, former Justice Department officials and political appointees. The Trump administration’s willingness to renege on secret arrangements made with informants who had aided U.S. investigations has not been previously reported.

On September 29, 2025, Huabing Xie became the 23rd person to die in ICE custody that fiscal year, making 2025 the deadliest year for ICE detainees since 2004. The Trump administration’s aggressive detention policies have led to a nearly 50% increase in the ICE detainee population, now around 60,000. Overcrowding, medical neglect, poor conditions, mental health crises, and even gun violence have contributed to the spike in deaths. Despite protests and some court interventions, ICE faces little accountability, worsened by reduced oversight and limited transparency.

Political imprisonment is surging in El Salvador under President Bukele, targeting lawyers, journalists, and activists who dare to speak out. Once a symbol of post-war democracy, the country now uses modern authoritarian tactics—forced disappearances, fake charges, and harsh prison conditions—to silence dissent. The case of Ruth López is just one of many. As fear spreads and critics flee, the world must decide how to respond.

In November 2016, historic peace accords were signed between the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the government. But several factions (called "dissidents") broke off from the FARC and refused to lay down their weapons. One of the largest is the Second Marquetalia, a FARC dissident faction led by Ivan Marquez.  Another rebel group, the National Coordinator of the Bolivarian Army (CNEB) emerged from the Second Marquetalia.

Now, as a sign of goodwill during its peace talks with the government, the CNEB is handing over armaments. This process with the CNEB could become one of Petro's few concrete peace achievements.