Trump presents the “Shield of the Americas”
Miami, US, Mar 7 (EFE).– By Eduard Ribas i Admetlla
United States President Donald Trump formalized a military coalition with right-wing Latin American presidents on Saturday to defeat the cartels, in the absence of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.
The US president presented the so-called “Shield of the Americas” during a summit with 12 ideological allies from Latin America at his golf resort, Trump National Doral Miami.
The essence of the agreement, Trump said, is “a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks.”
“We need your help,” Trump said, adding, “You have to just tell us where they are.”
The presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chávez; the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; El Salvador, Nayib Bukele; Guyana, Irfaan Ali; Honduras, Nasry “Tito” Asfura; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Paraguay, Santiago Peña; and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and the president-elect of Chile, José Antonio Kast, participated in the meeting.
The exclusion of Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia
The progressive leaders of Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, Washington’s long-time ally in the fight against drug trafficking, were not invited to the summit.
During his speech, Trump attacked Mexico, which he described as the “epicenter of cartel violence,” and criticized President Claudia Sheinbaum for not allowing the United States to militarily attack drug cartels on Mexican territory.
Following the US attack on Venezuela on Jan 3 that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026), who faces drug trafficking charges in New York, Trump has floated the idea of bombing cartels in Mexico, labeled terrorist groups by the US, which Sheinbaum flatly rejected.
However, both countries maintain security cooperation, as demonstrated during the Mexican operation in which the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” the most wanted Mexican drug lord by both countries, was killed with the help of US intelligence.
Natalia Molano, a State Department spokesperson, told EFE that this alliance “is not a closed door” for the Mexican government, which can join if it wishes.
Pressure on Cuba
The Miami meeting comes amid the war against Iran launched last week by the US and Israel, which resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and amid growing tensions between Washington and Havana over the energy embargo imposed on the island.
Although he stated that he is currently focused on Iran, Trump emphasized to his allies that the Cuban regime is in “its last moments of life” and that the island will soon “have a great new life.”
According to the American president, he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading the negotiations with the Cuban government after Washington announced tariffs on countries supplying oil to the island, an energy embargo that has exacerbated the social and economic crisis in the Caribbean nation.
Interest in Latin America, but not in Spanish
The “Shield of the Americas” will be overseen by Kirsti Noem, recently dismissed as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Its creation coincided with Trump’s objective to turn Latin America into a sphere of Washington’s influence, reviving the so-called Monroe Doctrine, the foreign policy principle proclaimed in 1823, summarized under the motto “America for the Americans.”
One of Trump’s major worries is precisely China’s influence in the region, which has seen a surge in trade and investment in Latin America over the past decade.
Trump, who has pressured the Panama Canal to divest itself of Hong Kong companies and sanctioned Chilean officials for the potential construction of a fiber optic cable with China, warned at the summit that he “will not allow hostile foreign influence.”
He made it clear, however, that he has no cultural interest in Latin America, telling the leaders that he has neither the will nor the time to learn their “damn language,” a dismissive remark about Spanish that elicited some laughter from the attendees. EFE
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