The permission announced in Panama is a week old in Bogotá
In Panama on Wednesday, Pete Hegseth said Colombia had authorised "joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks". Asked whether joint strikes against the National Liberation Army and remnants of the FARC had been discussed, he answered "Yes", and said that "designated terrorist organizations, with partnered governments, will be legitimate targets of the United States government". The Trump administration had announced 1 billion dollars in security assistance on Friday to the government of President Abelardo De La Espriella, who had taken office a week earlier.[1]
At the same gathering, Colombia became the 19th member of the Shield of the Americas coalition, which was launched in March. Hegseth called on members to reject the International Criminal Court and said the campaign was "100 percent lawful under the laws of armed conflict". A Washington Office on Latin America report in July documented at least 221 people killed in the boat strikes since September 2025; the court has announced no investigation.[2]
The doctrine's name and the source of today's permission
In his speech, Hegseth named today's hemispheric policy a revamped version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, calling it the "Donroe Doctrine" in a play on Trump's name. The doctrine he reached for asserted US primacy across the Americas, and its critics associate it with decades of intervention. His line "We will defend our hemisphere from external threats" comes from the same frame.[1]
Carrying a name is easy; carrying the machinery underneath it is harder. The reach described in Panama enters Colombia through permission granted in Bogotá, and the phrase "with partnered governments" moves the precondition for targeting outside Washington and into a partner's decision. Permission given by a government that took office a week earlier has to be asked again when that government changes, which ties the arrangement's life span to Colombia's political calendar. Another reading is available: 1 billion dollars in assistance and coalition membership may make withdrawal costly for a future government, in which case continuity would run on the flow of aid rather than on consent.[1], [2]
Which text carries this arrangement?
The coalition is older than Colombia's membership. It was launched in March with several Latin American countries, and a joint operation with Ecuador followed the same month; in Panama, Hegseth rested the prospect of further joint operations with members on that example. Bogotá joined a practice already in motion and arrived as its 19th member.[2]
The most concrete way to follow what comes next is to watch what form the permission takes. If Colombia's authorisation becomes a decree or a published agreement text by the end of 2026, the arrangement gains a basis that can outlive a change of government; if it stays a statement at ministerial level, its life span is bounded by the political calendar in Bogotá. The signal to watch is plain: a published Colombian text authorising joint operations.[1]