On Saturday, it was stated that the United States and Latin American countries are joining forces to combat violent cartels as his administration aims to show that it remains committed to [the relevant matter] even while dealing with major crises around the world.
Trump urged regional leaders gathered at his Miami – area golf club to take military action against drug – trafficking cartels and transnational gangs, which he claims pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security.
“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Trump said. “We have to use our military. You have to use your military.” Referring to the U.S. – led coalition that confronted the Islamic State group in the Middle East, the Republican president said that “we must now do the same thing to eliminate the cartels at home.”
The gathering, which the White House called the [summit name], took place just two months after Trump ordered a bold U.S. military operation to capture [person] and take him and his wife to the United States to face drug conspiracy charges.
Even more prominent is Trump’s decision to [action] with Israel one week ago, a conflict that has resulted in hundreds of deaths, [other consequences].
Trump’s time with the Latin American leaders was limited. Afterward, he headed to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be present for the dignified transfer of [item] in a [location] in Kuwait, one day after the U.S. and Israel launched their [action].
Trump described the American deaths as a “very sad situation” and praised the fallen troops as “great heroes.”
With the summit, Trump intended to draw attention to the Western Hemisphere, at least for a moment. He has promised to reassert U.S. dominance in the region and push back against what he perceives as years of [issue].
Trump also said that the U.S. will turn its attention to Cuba after the war with Iran and suggested that his administration would make a deal with Havana, highlighting Washington’s increasingly aggressive stance against the island’s communist leadership. “Great change will soon come to Cuba,” he said, adding that “they’re very much at the end of the line.”
Cuban officials have said on several occasions that they are open to dialogue with the U.S. as long as it is based on respect for Cuban sovereignty, but they have never confirmed that such talks are taking place.
Who was there
The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago joined the Republican president at Trump National Doral Miami, a golf resort where he is also scheduled to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.
The idea for a summit of like – minded conservatives from across the hemisphere emerged from the failure of what was supposed to be the 10th edition of the Summit of the Americas, which was canceled during the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela last year.
The host, the Dominican Republic, pressured by the White House, had barred Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from attending the regional gathering. But after leftist leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to withdraw in protest and with no commitment from Trump to attend, the Dominican Republic’s president, Luis Abinader, decided at the last minute to postpone the event, citing “deep differences” in the region.
The “Shield of the Americas” name was intended to convey Trump’s vision for an “America First” foreign policy toward the region that utilizes U.S. military and intelligence assets not seen in the area since the end of the Cold War.
To that end, [country] and the United States conducted military operations this week against organized crime groups in the South American country. Ecuadorian and U.S. security forces attacked a hideout belonging to the Colombian illegal armed group Comandos de la Frontera in the Ecuadorian [area] on Friday, authorities reported.
This joint fight against drug traffickers “is only the beginning,” said Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa.
Notably absent at the summit were the region’s two dominant powers — Brazil and Mexico — as well as Colombia, long the key part of the U.S. anti – narcotics strategy in the region.
Trump complained that Mexico is the “epicenter of cartel violence” with drug kingpins “orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere.”
“The cartels are running Mexico,” Trump said. “We can’t have that. It’s too close to us. It’s too close to you.”
The challenge from China
Trump made no mention of his administration’s insistence that countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere is a top priority for his second term.
His [policy] promotes the “Trump Corollary” to the 19th – century Monroe Doctrine, which aimed to ban European incursions in the Americas, by targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military cooperation, and investment in the region’s resource industries.
The first example of this more forceful approach was Trump pressuring Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and review long – term port contracts held by a Hong Kong – based company amid U.S. threats to take back the Panama Canal.
More recently, the U.S. capture of Maduro and Trump’s promise to “run” Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil shipments to China — the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude before the raid — and bring into Washington’s sphere of influence one of Beijing’s closest allies in the region. Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
For many countries, China’s trade – focused diplomacy fills a crucial financial gap in a region facing major development challenges from poverty reduction to infrastructure bottlenecks. In contrast, Trump has been cutting foreign assistance to the region while rewarding countries that support his crackdown on immigration — a policy widely unpopular across the hemisphere.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the leaders for a working lunch after Trump left for the event in Delaware. The lunch gave Kristi Noem, [description], the opportunity to make her debut in her new role as a special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.”
“We want our hemisphere to be safer, more sovereign, and more prosperous,” Noem told the leaders.