President Trump has a clear message for Latin America: if you are with us in the fight against drug cartels, you must use military force. And the United States is ready to help.
This is essentially what the tenant of the White House conveyed to the leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean gathered on March 7 in Doral, Florida, for a summit labeled “Shield of the Americas,” as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“This unusual gathering, in the ballroom of a Trump golf club in South Florida, shows how the president seeks to create a bloc of countries aligned ideologically, in favor of a clear military involvement by the United States in Latin America. This idea has long been unpopular in a good part of the continent,” comments the business journal.
“We must use our army. You must use your army,” said Trump, who signed a proclamation to officially launch the “anti-cartels coalition.”
Cuba at the forefront
“The United States government has already deployed its armed resources in the region on an unprecedented scale for decades,” recalls The New York Times, with the stated goal of fighting what the White House calls “narcoterrorism.” The most recent example is a joint operation initiated in Ecuador.
Major regional powers were not invited: Mexico, Brazil, or Colombia. Although not yet in office, the future President of Chile, José Antonio Kast, was invited. As well as the Argentinian president, Javier Milei, who “confirmed on Saturday the close and strategic relationship between Argentina and the United States,” according to Clarín. This summit sealed an alliance “to consolidate Washington’s dominant position in the region, strengthen security, fight against narcoterrorism, and also curb China’s influence,” writes the Argentinian newspaper.
Even though Cuban leaders were not present, the country was “on everyone’s mind,” highlights The Miami Herald. “Cuba is reaching the end station,” said Donald Trump, “the Castro regime is living its final moments in its current state.” “Right now, we are focused on Iran,” but Marco Rubio “will take an hour break and he will conclude an agreement on Cuba,” he joked in front of the Secretary of State.
Other heavyweights of the U.S. government were also present at the summit, such as Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. “If Trump praised Rubio and Miller, he didn’t say anything about Kristi Noem,” notes the New York Times. The former Secretary of Homeland Security, recently dismissed, was nevertheless appointed as a special envoy to the “Shield of the Americas.”
