At the inaugural \u201cShield of the Americas\u201d summit in South Florida, United States President Donald Trump announced the creation of what he calls the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition: a group of a dozen politically aligned countries committed to fighting drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
But as he signed a declaration to cement that commitment, Trump signalled that it came with the expectation that cartels would not be confronted with law enforcement action, but instead military might.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201c\u200aThe only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our military. So we have to use our military. You have to use your military,\u201d Trump told the audience of Latin American leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have some great police, but they threaten your police. They scare your police. You\u2019re going to use your military.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s summit was the latest step in a larger foreign policy pivot under Trump.<\/p>\n Since taking office for a second term, Trump has distanced himself from some of the US\u2019s traditional allies in Europe, instead forging tighter partnerships with right-wing governments around the world.<\/p>\n The attendance at the Shield of the Americas summit reflected that shift. Right-wing leaders, including Argentina\u2019s Javier Milei, El Salvador\u2019s Nayib Bukele and Ecuador\u2019s Daniel Noboa, were among the guest list.<\/p>\n But notably absent was top-level leadership from Mexico, the US\u2019s biggest trading partner, and Brazil, the largest country in the region by economy and population.<\/p>\n Both Mexico and Brazil are led by left-wing presidents who have resisted some of Trump\u2019s more hardline policies.<\/p>\n The growing rift between the US and some of its longtime partners was a feature in the brief remarks delivered by\u00a0US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who praised attendees for their cooperation.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re more than allies. They\u2019re friends,\u201d Rubio said of the leaders present.<\/p>\n \u201cAt a time when we have learned that oftentimes an ally, when you need them, maybe may not be there for you, these are countries that have been there for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, reiterated his view that criminal networks and cartels pose an existential crisis for the entire Western Hemisphere, which he described as sharing the same cultural and religious roots.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe share a hemisphere and geography. We share cultures, Western Christian civilisation. We share these things together. We have to have the courage to defend it,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n Latin America is one of several areas where Trump has launched military operations since returning to office in January 2025.<\/p>\n His rationale for authorising deadly operations in the region has centred primarily on the illicit drug trade.<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly argued that Latin American criminal networks pose an imminent threat to national security, through the trafficking of people and drugs across US borders.<\/p>\n Experts in international law have pointed out that drug trafficking is considered a criminal offence \u2014 and it is not accepted as justification for acts of military aggression.<\/p>\n But the Trump administration has nevertheless launched lethal military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America.<\/p>\n Since September, for instance, the Trump administration has conducted at least 44 aerial strikes on maritime vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing nearly 150 people.<\/p>\n The victims\u2019 identities have never been publicly confirmed, nor has evidence been publicly released to justify the deadly strikes.<\/p>\n Some families in Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago have stepped forward to claim the dead as their loved ones, out on a fishing expedition or travelling between islands for informal work.<\/p>\n In Saturday\u2019s remarks, Trump justified the attacks by arguing that cartels and other criminal networks had grown more powerful than local militaries \u2014 and therefore necessitated a lethal response.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the cartels have developed sophisticated military operations. Highly sophisticated, in some cases. They say they\u2019re more powerful than the military in the country,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t have that. These brutal criminal organisations pose an unacceptable threat to national security. And they provide a dangerous gateway for foreign adversaries in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n He then compared cartels to a disease: \u201cThey\u2019re cancer, and we don\u2019t want it spreading.\u201d<\/p>\n In late December and early January, Trump also initiated attacks on Venezuelan soil, again defending his actions as necessary to stop drug traffickers.<\/p>\n The first attack targeted a port Trump linked to the gang Tren de Aragua. The second, on January 3, was a broader offensive that culminated in the abduction and imprisonment of Venezuela\u2019s then-leader, President Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Trump reflected on that military operation, which he characterised as an unmitigated success.<\/p>\n Maduro is currently awaiting trial on drug-trafficking charges in New York, though a declassified intelligence report last May cast doubt on Trump\u2019s allegations that the Venezuelan leader directed drug-trafficking operations through groups like Tren de Aragua.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica\u2019s armed forces also ended the reign of one of the biggest cartel kingpins of all, with Operation Absolute Resolve to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice in a precision raid,\u201d Trump told Saturday\u2019s summit.<\/p>\n He then described the military operation as \u201cnasty\u201d, though he underscored that no US lives were lost.<\/p>\n The early-morning raid, however, killed at least 80 people in Venezuela, including 32 Cuban military officers, dozens of Venezuelan security forces, and several civilians.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went right into the heart. We took them out, and it was nasty. It was about 18 minutes of pure violence, and we took them out,\u201d Trump said of the operation.<\/p>\n Trump has since held up Venezuela as a model for regime change around the world, particularly as it leads a war with Israel against Iran.<\/p>\n Maduro\u2019s successor, interim President Delcy Rodriguez, has so far complied with many of Trump\u2019s demands, including for reforms to the country\u2019s nationalised oil and mining sectors.<\/p>\n Just this week, the two countries re-established diplomatic relations for the first time since 2019, under Trump\u2019s first term as president.<\/p>\n In Saturday\u2019s remarks, however, Trump reiterated that his positive relationship with Rodriguez hinged on her cooperation with his priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s doing a great job because she\u2019s working with us. If she wasn\u2019t working with us, I would not say she\u2019s doing a great job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, if she wasn\u2019t working with us, I\u2019d say she\u2019s doing a very poor job. Unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump did, however, express consternation with other presidents in the Latin American region, accusing them of allowing cartels to run amok.<\/p>\n \u201cLeaders in this region have allowed large swaths of territory, the Western Hemisphere, to come under the direct control\u201d of the cartels, Trump said.<\/p>\n \u201cTransnational gangs have taken over, and they\u2019ve run areas of your country. We\u2019re not going to let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n He even delivered an ominous warning to the summit\u2019s attendees: \u201cSome of you are in danger. I mean, you\u2019re actually in danger. It\u2019s hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the leaders in attendance, including El Salvador\u2019s Bukele, have launched their own harsh crackdowns on gangs in their countries, employing \u201cmano dura\u201d or \u201ciron fist\u201d tactics.<\/p>\n Those campaigns, however, have elicited concerns from human rights groups, who have noted that presidents like Bukele used emergency declarations to suspend civil liberties and imprison hundreds of people, often without a fair trial.<\/p>\n Still, Trump dismissed alternative approaches in Saturday\u2019s speech. Though he did not mention Colombia by name, he was critical of efforts to negotiate for the disarmament of cartels and rebel groups, as Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sought to do.<\/p>\n Instead, he offered to deploy military might throughout the region.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll use missiles. If you want us to use a missile, they\u2019re extremely accurate \u2014 pew! \u2014 right into the living room, and that\u2019s the end of that cartel person,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of countries don\u2019t want to do that. They say, \u2018Oh, sure. I\u2019d rather not have that. I\u2019d rather not have it. I believe they could be spoken to.\u2019 I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n One country he did single out, though, was Mexico. Trump suggested that it had fallen behind other countries in the region in its efforts to combat crime.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must recognise the epicentre of cartel violence is Mexico,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mexican cartels are fueling and orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere, and the United States government will do whatever\u2019s necessary to defend our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the start of his second term, Trump has pressured Mexico to step up its security efforts, threatening tariffs and even the possibility of military action if it does not comply.<\/p>\n Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has responded by increasing military deployments throughout the country.<\/p>\n In February 2025, for instance, she announced 10,000 soldiers would be sent to the US-Mexico border. For the upcoming FIFA World Cup, her officials have said nearly 100,000 security personnel will be patrolling the streets.<\/p>\n Just last month, her government also launched a military operation in Jalisco to capture and kill the cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, nicknamed \u201cEl Mencho\u201d. She has also facilitated the transfer of cartel suspects to the US for trial.<\/p>\n But Trump reemphasised on Saturday his belief that Sheinbaum had not gone far enough, though he called her a \u201cvery good person\u201d and a \u201cbeautiful woman\u201d with a \u201cbeautiful voice\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Let me eradicate the cartels,’\u201d Trump said, relaying one of his conversations with Sheinbaum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to eradicate them. We have to knock the hell out of them because they\u2019re getting worse. They\u2019re taking over their country. The cartels are running Mexico. We can\u2019t have that. Too close to us, too close to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also used his podium to continue his threats against Cuba\u2019s communist government.<\/p>\n Since the January 3 attack on Venezuela, Trump has increased his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign against the Caribbean island, which has been under a full US trade embargo since the 1960s.<\/p>\n His administration severed the flow of oil and funds from Venezuela to Cuba, and in late January, Trump announced he would impose steep economic penalties on any country that provides the island with oil, a critical resource for the country\u2019s electrical grid.<\/p>\n Already, the country has been struck with widespread blackouts, and the United Nations has warned Cuba is inching closer to humanitarian \u201ccollapse\u201d.<\/p>\n But Trump framed the circumstances as progress towards the ultimate goal of regime change in Cuba.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we\u2019re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,\u201d he told Saturday\u2019s summit.<\/p>\n \u201cCuba\u2019s at the end of the line. They\u2019re very much at the end of the line. They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that\u2019s been bad for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he thinks changing Cuba\u2019s government will be \u201ceasy\u201d and that a deal could be struck for the transition of power.<\/p>\n \u201cCuba\u2019s in its last moments of life as it was. It\u2019ll have a great new life, but it\u2019s in its last moments of life the way it is,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n But while Trump\u2019s remarks largely focused on governments not represented at the summit, he warned that there could be consequences even for the right-wing leaders in attendance.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s \u201cShield of the Americas\u201d coalition comes as he seeks to bring the whole of Latin America in line with US priorities. It\u2019s a policy he has dubbed the \u201cDonroe Doctrine\u201d, a riff on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which claimed the Western Hemisphere as the US\u2019s sphere of influence.<\/p>\n To Trump, that means ousting rival powers like China as they seek to forge relationships and economic ties with Latin America. Trump has even mused about retaking the Panama Canal, based on his allegation that the Chinese have too much control in the area.<\/p>\n \u201cAs these situations in Venezuela and Cuba should make clear, under our new doctrine \u2014 and this is a doctrine \u2014 we will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n He then made a pointed remark to Panama\u2019s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who was in the audience.<\/p>\n \u201cThat includes the Panama Canal, which we talked about. We\u2019re not going to allow it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the inaugural \u201cShield of the Americas\u201d summit in South Florida, United States President Donald Trump announced the creation of what he calls the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition: a group of a dozen politically aligned countries committed to fighting drug trafficking. But as he signed a declaration to cement that commitment, Trump signalled that it came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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