Shield of the Americas

Background The grouping that became the Shield of the Americas emerged from political lobbying of the incoming second Trump administration after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election. Through lobbying, especially of Argentine president Javier Milei, Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, and El Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele seeking to secure political, financial, military support from the incoming administration. Other governments engaged in such efforts included Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Panama. All three would be among several heads of state at Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration on January 20, 2025. Leandro Morgenfeld, coordinator for the study group on the U.S. of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, argues that the alignment of Bukele, Milei, Noboa, and Peña with U.S. president Donald Trump is due to the latter's revival of the Monroe Doctrine in foreign policy. He explains that governments in the Americas that don't align with the United States are subject to threats, while those that are aligned become subject to American neocolonialism. The grouping is also informed by ideological alignment, priorities in finance, and securing political support from the United States, amidst international criticism. U.S. President Trump's second administration was critical of Bukele and Milei securing loans from the IMF, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank through the U.S.’s vote share on such institutions. Ivan Briscoe, a senior policy director from the International Crisis Group, argued on NPR that Trump’s foreign policy toward Latin America is intended to build a coalition ideologically aligned with his administration. Those politically or militarily opposed to his administration’s actions in the Americas, even traditional allies such as Brazil and Colombia, have faced travel restrictions and sanctions from the United States. Most of the MAGA movement see the Americas as a territorial extension of the continental United States. Concerning the region, the 2025 National Security Strategy says the United States will “will reward and encourage the region’s governments, political parties, andmovements broadly aligned with our principles and strategy.” Formation On March 7, 2026, President Trump signed a proclamation launching the Shield of the Americas initiative, establishing an Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition. The signing took place at the Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami. The proclamation commits participating nations to coordinate military and law enforcement efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations, particularly drug cartels. Attendees included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Summits == Participating countries ==

Representatives from the United States and 11 countries in Central and South America, as well as countries from the Caribbean, attended the inaugural summit, namely: • • • • • • • • • • • • Outside the inaugural summit attendees, six countries also signed on to the initial Joint Security Declaration: • • • • • • Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Suriname, Dominica, Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia, as well as Denmark (which administered Greenland), France (which administered French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, the Collectivity of Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon), the Netherlands (which administered Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the special municipalities of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius) and the United Kingdom (which administered Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands) were absent from the summit and did not participate in the initial meeting of the initiative. President-elect of Chile José Antonio Kast and his nominated Minister of Defense, Fernando Barros attended the meeting, but not in an official capacity as they could not legally sign the agreement because the then government of President Gabriel Boric was not invited nor represented. == Organization ==

The Shield of the Americas is officially a military coalition, though it’s also characterized as a political coalition, where issues are coordinated and addressed with right-wing governments aligned to the United States under the second Trump administration. === Shield of the Americas Summit === Illegal and mass migration, drug trafficking, foreign interference, and organized crime are discussed and addressed by heads of state or government at the Shield of the Americas Summit, presided over by the United States Secretary of State. States attending the summit also have increased access to American military equipment, training, and intelligence to address drug trafficking, organized crime, and threats to critical infrastructure. Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas The Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas diplomatically coordinates between members and the United States on these issues. Americas Counter Cartel Conference Militarily addressing drug trafficking, organized crime, and threats to critical infrastructure are specifically discussed by member states’ ministers of defense or security at the Americas Counter Cartel Conference, presided over by the Secretary of Defense and commander of the Southern Command. Adam Isacson, from the Washington Office on Latin America claimed that members of the coalition confidentially negotiated for increased federal funding towards military aid from the United States in addressing the above issues, hence the vagueness of the Joint Security Declaration. Ideological alignment and networking The Shield of the Americas has also been characterized as a right-wing political coalition aligned with the United States. Tomorrow’s Affairs cited the exclusive ideological alignment of the summit’s attendees as a reason for its political nature. Connectas claims U.S. president Donald Trump wants such to enforce his administration’s “homeland defense” hemispherically. Chatham House described the initial grouping that would be the coalition as a right-wing populist network influencing the second Trump administration’s foreign policy in Latin America, citing the ideological nature of it's membership as a detriment to it's military longevity. Bukele, Milei, and Asfura also employed political strategist Fernando Carimedo, who works for Trump and played a prominent role in the 2022–2023 Brazilian election protests favouring Bolsonaro, live-streaming Brazil Was Stolen, claiming that voting machines were tampered with to favour Lula de Silva. Catham House, The Economist and The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune include in the network: • Nasry Asfura, 40th President of Honduras (2026-present) • Jair Bolsonaro, 38th President of Brazil (2019-2023) • Nayib Bukele, 81st President of El Salvador (2019-present) • José Antonio Kast, 38th President of Chile (2026-present) • Javier Milei, 52nd President of Argentina (2023-present) Parties and movements associated with these figures include: == See also ==