During a meeting of the Shield of the Americas coalition in New York City, US President Donald Trump emphasized the need for a united front against drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere. He pledged to utilize "unmatched military might" and urged member countries to target 24 criminal organizations, which he referred to as the "ISIS of the Western Hemisphere." Trump called on all nations in the coalition to formally designate narco-terrorists as common threats to stability and to impose sanctions against these groups.
The meeting occurred on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and included leaders and foreign ministers from the coalition. Following the meeting, the coalition's 15 member governments issued a joint statement indicating their intention to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions on individuals associated with the targeted groups, as well as pursue criminal charges against them.
Among the organizations identified are Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Tren de Aragua, both of which have been labeled as terrorist organizations by the US. The list also includes various Mexican cartels, Colombian armed groups such as the National Liberation Army, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho, and Peru’s Shining Path.
Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti reported from Bogota, Colombia, noting that the coalition's statement is largely symbolic at this stage, as each country must follow its own legal procedures to implement these measures. In Colombia, for instance, a law must be passed in Congress, and the government has requested Congress to draft such legislation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the meeting, commended the emergence of strong leaders committed to addressing transnational terrorism. This gathering represents the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to promote a more aggressive stance on drug trafficking in the region. Since taking office again last year, Trump has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and has ordered military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific suspected of transporting narcotics to the US, resulting in over 223 fatalities.
Critics, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have expressed concerns about this approach, warning against "renewed hegemonic temptations" in Latin America and the Caribbean. Lula stated, "Brazil is nobody’s back yard." The Trump administration's National Security Strategy, released late last year, outlined plans for a revised Monroe Doctrine, a policy historically associated with US intervention in the region.