Argentine military personnel told La Política Online that their country’s armed forces are not in a condition to enter combat. In the image, the ARA King patrol vessel. Photograph: Government of Argentina.
Guacamaya, October 7, 2025. The United States government has asked Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador to join the naval deployment in the Caribbean to pressure Nicolás Maduro, according to a report by La Política Online, an Argentine news site.
The report clarifies that the decision would not be due to military necessity, but to add political muscle among regional allies in Washington’s offensive against Maduro. An Argentine military official explained to LPO that the request was made for “a show of political, more than military, adherence, but if accepted, it would have to go through Congress.”
The same armed forces member explained that Argentina does not have the capacity to enter combat and that its participation would be similar to its role in the Gulf War (1990-1991), describing it as “something token.”
Another military official told the news site that it is “not feasible” for Buenos Aires to sign up for the military deployment. First, due to the resources the country has available, and second, because it would need to be part of a multinational coalition backed and legitimized by international organizations, such as the UN.
Several Latin American governments have joined a symbolic pressure campaign against Maduro by designating the so-called Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization, following guidelines from Washington. Among them are Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic.
The Colombian Senate also approved a motion in this regard, but President Gustavo Petro has stated that “the Cartel of the Suns does not exist.”
The governments of Venezuela and Argentina have had no relations since the beginning of Javier Milei’s presidency, and the friction increased with the siege of the embassy in Caracas while it was sheltering several opposition leaders, as well as with the arrest of Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has positioned himself as an ally of Trump’s political agenda on several occasions. In March, he agreed to receive 250 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to lock them up in the CECOT. These individuals were used as bargaining chips in July to secure the release of political prisoners and American citizens in Venezuela.
