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The United States<\/span> is feeding Pentagon propaganda to internet users in Latin American countries using a new AI-laden content mill, an investigation by The Intercept has found.<\/p>\n La Tilde<\/a> quietly began development early this year and appears to still be a work in progress, pitching itself as a modern media brand for Latin American audiences with articles published in both Spanish and English. Its name references the accent mark emphasizing vowels in Spanish; \u201cnews with an accent\u201d is the site\u2019s catchphrase.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tilde is not an ornament. It is a millennial arrow designed to provide direction, save space, and turn up the volume,\u201d a narrator states in a promotional video<\/a> for the site bearing telltale signs it was AI-generated, such as a newspaper whose sloppily rendered headline reads \u201cSO THEE HOUTIERRER TO TO GHAHOBATEE,\u201d followed by imagery of two medieval monks. \u201cThat is why we place the accent on what matters. From the regional pulse and your well-being, to the big ideas and the global context.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, La Tilde\u2019s coverage amounts to an unusual blend of personal finance tips (\u201cWhy instant payments matter so much for your business and your wallet\u201d) and articles extolling the value of U.S. military operations in Latin America (\u201cOperation Absolute Resolve: The mission that captured Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and set a new standard for precision and coordination\u201d).<\/p>\n Its article on the U.S. abduction<\/a> of the Venezuelan president praises the mission in Trumpian prose, calling it \u201cThe Perfect Operation \u2013 Coordination, Timing and Precision at an Unprecedented Scale,\u201d and \u201ca military operation of coordination and accuracy never seen before.\u201d Citing \u201cinformation obtained exclusively by La Tilde,\u201d it describes the operation\u2019s tactical brilliance, flawless execution, and incredibly precise coordination of military assets in the air and on the ground.<\/p>\n If this reads like Pentagon a press release, that\u2019s because it is. An explanation for its glowing coverage of the U.S. military can be found after clicking a small link tucked at the bottom of the site. \u201cLa Tilde is a product of an international media organization publicly funded from the budget of the United States Government,\u201d its About page reads.<\/p>\n This easily missed disclosure language is identical to two other Pentagon-sponsored propaganda sites recently revealed by The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n Targeting audiences, foreign or domestic, with state-run information campaigns remains a politically<\/a> sensitive topic, and a token disclosure that La Tilde is a U.S.-funded platform allows the American government to say it technically informed readers about the actual source of the information.<\/p>\n According to a defense official familiar with U.S. information operations, La Tilde is operated as a military messaging platform for U.S. Special Operations Command South, or SOCSOUTH, which executes special forces missions throughout South and Central America as well as the Caribbean. When asked about SOCSOUTH\u2019s role behind La Tilde, spokesperson Trevor Wild replied with the text of the site\u2019s About page noting that it\u2019s a government operation,\u00a0but declined to comment further.<\/p>\n U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, which is broadly responsible for coordinating military assets in the countries<\/a> La Tilde targets, denied involvement. SOUTHCOM \u201cdoes not fund, operate, or have any official association with La Tilde,\u201d according to spokesperson Steven McLoud, who did not respond to further questions.<\/p>\n Unlike most news websites, La Tilde carries no bylines, masthead, or mention of actual staff of any kind. Although the site claims it employs \u201cdozens of freelance reporters and content creators,\u201d at least some of the site appears to have been generated by a large language model. Running articles through Pangram<\/a>, an AI-text detection service, produced multiple hits for both English and Spanish writing either partially or entirely written by machines (though such tools are known to deliver false positives).<\/p>\n Emerson Brooking, a fellow with the Atlantic Council\u2019s Digital Forensic Research Lab and former Pentagon cyber-policy adviser, told The Intercept he was struck by site\u2019s shoddiness, describing it as \u201cAI all the way down.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the low quality of AI-generated articles, this approach could help the Pentagon spin up propaganda efforts faster than in the past. \u201cIf you can generate new content and even news fronts at the flip of a switch, your influence operations can shift target and focus much more quickly,\u201d Brooking said. \u201cThat seems to be the thinking behind recent AI-powered Russian and Chinese networks, for instance.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An analysis of subdomains hosted on LaTilde.co reveals the site plans to launch bespoke versions for readers in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and Peru.<\/p>\n Some pro-U.S. content is clearly tailored to these national audiences. An article<\/a> filed to the site\u2019s \u201cIn Good Hands\u201d section highlights the benefits of U.S.\u2013Panamanian joint jungle warfare training exercises, regaling readers with how \u201ctemperatures and heart rates climb at the Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n Naval Air Base as Panamanian security forces push forward through the \u2018Green Mile,\u2019 the demanding final test of the Combined Jungle Operations Course.\u201d Such joint initiatives are, according to La Tilde, a bulwark against China\u2019s efforts to engage in similar joint exercises in Latin America. Rather than engage with \u201cBeijing\u2019s predatory practices,\u201d the article suggests countries should follow Panama\u2019s lead and \u201cseek training opportunities closer to home or with longstanding partners such as the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The article makes no mention of the controversy surrounding PANAMAX, a joint military exercise between SOUTHCOM and the Panamanian forces that has sparked increased protest on the grounds it violates national sovereignty. Permanent U.S. military installations in Panama were shuttered in 1999 as part of a 1977 treaty between the two countries; Panamanian opposition parties decried<\/a> the reestablishment of an American military presence under the guise of joint exercises as a \u201ccamouflaged invasion.\u201d Participants in the 2025 PANAMAX exercise<\/a> La Tilde is pushing include the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, previously known as the School of the Americas, a Pentagon training institute whose graduates included thousands of Latin American death squad gunmen and dictator Manuel Noriega<\/a>.<\/p>\n The importance of military and intelligence-sharing compacts with the U.S. is a recurring theme. \u201cFar from weakening sovereignty, this kind of cooperation can strengthen it,\u201d one article says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other stories from La Tilde argue the American side of Latin American controversies, similarly downplaying issues of national sovereignty. One piece describes<\/a> how the U.S. abduction of Maduro \u201chas reawakened a long-contained hope among millions of Venezuelans inside and outside the country.\u201d Another alleges Ecuador is a nexus of the international cocaine trade, echoing claims the Trump administration has used to expand Operation Southern Spear<\/a>, SOUTHCOM\u2019s Caribbean airstrike campaign<\/a> that has killed<\/a> more than 200 civilians to date.<\/p>\n