PANAMA CITY, June 23, 2026 (AFP) - Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo ruled out US military operations against organized crime in his country, telling AFP Monday that his country's constitution "does not allow the operation, the conduct of joint military operations" with foreign armed forces.

Americans "conducting military operations, carrying weapons... the law does not allow it," the president said in an exclusive interview with AFP while on a trip in Panama.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News a week ago that targeted strikes could be deployed in Guatemala and Ecuador to target criminal gangs and drug trafficking.

Guatemala is, however, part of an anti-drug-trafficking alliance promoted by President Donald Trump.

Arevalo noted in the interview that the cooperation agreed with Washington provides for "training, support at the level of tactical operations for the planning of raids, and intelligence sharing."

Meanwhile, armed actions against criminal groups remain the responsibility of Guatemalan security forces, said the president, who is taking part in the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Panamanian capital.

Drug-trafficking mafias and gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, designated as "terrorists" by the Trump administration, operate in Guatemala.

Earlier this month the United States carried out a raid in Venezuela that killed criminal gang Tren de Aragua's leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores -- alias Nino Guerrero.

Guerrero was charged with drug trafficking, extortion and other crimes in the US prior to the raid.

President Donald Trump posted to social media a video of the raid targeting the high-profile criminal, who had a $5 million bounty on his head.

It showed an overhead view of a building surrounded by greenery before an explosion erupts, sending up a cloud of smoke. No people are clearly visible in the footage.

As part of the Republican president's anti-drug offensive, the United States has also carried out airstrikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, in which more than 200 people have died.

Washington has also acknowledged that it conducts missions together with Ecuador in areas along the border with Colombia.