“Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate ISIS in the Middle East, we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home.”
President Donald Trump has called for the elimination of the cartels across the Americas, just as the US has done to ISIS abroad in the Middle East. Trump made the announcement at the “Shield of the Americas Summit” that took place in Miami on Saturday, where several other Latin American countries pledged to put a stop to the cartels throughout the American continents.
“Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate ISIS in the Middle East, we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home,” Trump said in his address to the officials at the summit. After giving his remarks, Trump was joined by other Latin American leaders to sign the “Commitment to Countering Cartel Criminal Activity Proclamation.”
“On this historic day, we come together to announce a brand-new military coalition to eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” Trump said at the event.
“We’re calling this military partnership the America’s counter cartel coalition, and that’s what you need. You have cartels, they seem to grow in this region unbelievably rapidly, has to do with drugs, largely,” Trump added.
17 nations have entered into the agreement to form the coalition taking shape to uproot and eliminate the cartels. Leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago were present for the event. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who has now been appointed as a special envoy for the coalition, was present, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The event takes place just a couple of months after the Trump administration’s successful mission in detaining and capturing Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro. In a proclamation from the White House, Trump said, “The United States will train and mobilize partner nation militaries to achieve the most effective fighting force necessary to dismantle cartels and their ability to export violence and pursue influence through organized intimidation.”
