Trump convenes ‘Shield of Americas’ summit with 12 Latin American leaders | Donald Trump
Donald Trump shifted the channel from Iran to the western hemisphere on Saturday, gathering Latin American leaders at his Miami-area golf club to discuss regional interests and build what he called an “anti-cartel coalition.”
“Just as we established a coalition to destroy ISIS, now we need a coalition to destroy the cartels,” he said to the 12 regional leaders who came together at the summit called “Shield of the Americas” by the White House.
“We must recognize that the epicenter of cartel violence is Mexico”; where “cartels fuel and orchestrate much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere.”
Kristi Noem, who resigned as DHS secretary on Thursday to become the first cabinet secretary to leave the second Trump administration, spoke in the afternoon about her new role as U.S. special envoy to the coalition.
“This is intended to be a group that works together to ensure that we defend our own sovereignty, that we each defend our own security and economic prosperity,” Noem said, adding that the organization would be “a powerful example to the rest of the world of what is possible.”
Noem did not mention the rapid transfer of duties but noted her experience in securing U.S. borders. “Now that America is safe and our borders are safe, we want to focus on our neighbors and help our neighbors with their borders and the challenges they face.”
Trump convened the summit of leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, just two months after a military operation to capture Venezuela’s then-president Nicolás Maduro, who is awaiting trial in the United States on drug and weapons conspiracy charges.
Less than two weeks ago, U.S. law enforcement provided intelligence assistance in a raid in Jalisco, Mexico, to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) and one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers. El Mencho was wounded in combat and died while being transported to Mexico City.
Trump praised Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who was not at the meeting, but still said the cartels were “going bad and taking over the country. The cartels are running Mexico. We can’t let that happen. It’s too close to us, too close to you.”
He also complimented Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, who offered “cooperation” with the Trump administration. “He does a great job working with us,” he said. Last week, the United States legally recognized the Venezuelan government.
Trump reiterated his prediction that Cuba, dependent on Venezuelan oil, now faces collapse. Trump claimed that the Caribbean country was “at the end of the line” and said, “We look forward to the great change that will soon come to Cuba.”
“They have no money, they have no oil, they have a bad philosophy and a bad regime,” the US president said, but also said the regime wanted to negotiate with the US. “Cuba is living the last moments of her life as before, but she will have a new and wonderful life.”
Trump proposed the political throughline in US policy towards its neighbors, also known as the “Donroe doctrine”, aimed at regional cooperation and countering China’s economic and political interests. “We will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere, which includes the Panama Canal,” he said.
U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio thanked Trump for making the Western hemisphere a priority and complimented the region’s leaders as friends, not just allies. Rubio said this as a criticism of Britain for its weak support for US attacks on Iran:
“At a time when we’re learning that an ally may not be there when you need it, these are the countries that are there for us,” he said. “We want you to see that when you’re a friend and an ally of the United States, that’s a good thing, and it’s reciprocated the exact opposite.”
US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that for too long the US had focused “not on our own borders, not on our own western hemisphere, but on borders in far away places”.
