PRESIDENT TRUMP PRESENTS 'SHIELD OF THE AMERICAS'
Shield of the Americas summit took place on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Florida, where President Donald Trump hosted leaders from over a dozen Latin American and Caribbean nations. The event marked the launch of a new regional coalition called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, aimed at using military force to combat drug cartels and organized crime across the Western Hemisphere.
March 7, 2026 The White House: President Trump Delivers Remarks to the Shield of Americas Summit.
President Trump emphasized military action, urging regional leaders to unleash the power of our militaries against cartels, stating, "We have to use our military. You have to use your military".
He framed the initiative as an America First foreign policy effort, leveraging US military and intelligence assets more aggressively in the region than at any point since the Cold War.
Attending leaders included: Javier Milei (Argentina), Nayib Bukele (El Salvador), Rodrigo Paz (Bolivia), Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic), Daniel Noboa (Ecuador), Mohamed Irfaan Ali (Guyana), José Antonio Kast (Chile, president-elect) and others from Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Notably absent were the region’s major powers: Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as leftist-led nations like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, which had been excluded at the US’s urging.
Trump also signaled future action against Cuba, declaring, "Great change will soon be coming to Cuba" and suggesting a potential US intervention after the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The summit coincided with joint US Ecuador military operations against drug trafficking groups in the Amazon, described as "only the beginning" by Ecuador’s president.
Kristi Noem, recently replaced as Homeland Security Secretary, made her debut as the new Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, reinforcing the administration’s focus on regional security and anti-cartel efforts.
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