President Donald Trump unveiled the Shield of the Americas at a summit in Miami, forming a military coalition with conservative Latin American leaders to fight drug cartels using U.S. military power. Mexico and Colombia were excluded, raising concerns over regional sovereignty. President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected any foreign military intervention in Mexican territory.
At a summit held on Saturday in Miami, Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the creation of the Shield of the Americas, an initiative to form a hemispheric military coalition against drug cartels. The proclamation involves leaders from 17 countries, mainly conservative and far-right governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Argentina's Javier Milei, El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, and Ecuador's Daniel Noboa. Trump described the cartels as 'foreign terrorist organizations' that control territories, extort political systems, and use violence to achieve their ends.
The strategy, outlined in an official proclamation, states that the United States will train and mobilize allied armies to dismantle these networks, using 'all necessary resources and legally available authorities,' implying the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws over international treaties. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formalized the Anti-Cartel Coalition of the Americas during the event. Trump emphasized deploying 'hard power' to defeat these threats to regional security and civilization.
Mexico, under President Claudia Sheinbaum, was not invited, nor were Colombia's Gustavo Petro and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt explained that Colombia did not demonstrate the 'level of cooperation' desired in combating narcotrafficking and drug flows to the United States. Sheinbaum stated that any U.S. troop intervention in Mexico is ruled out and that there is an 'understanding' on security matters, promoting collaboration without subordination.
Petro responded on social media, noting that Colombia has lost 200,000 lives over 20 years to organized crime, with 400,000 anti-narcotics operations, destruction of 18,000 cocaine labs, and 1,500 battles. He called for changes in U.S. plea bargaining rules to prevent global recidivism and criticized 'ideological fronts' in the anti-drug fight.
Experts note that this initiative revives the Monroe Doctrine, bypassing multilateral bodies like the OAS or UN, and represents Trump's most serious threat to Mexico to date, given its role as a gateway for drugs into the United States.
