Trump Forms Military Coalition to Fight Cartels
President Trump has announced a new military coalition with unspecified regional partners to “eradicate cartels” in the Western Hemisphere. The move signals a major shift toward more direct US intervention in regional security, moving beyond traditional counter-narcotics programs to direct military deployment.
The "Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition" (ACCC) was formally established at the "Shield of the Americas" summit in Doral, Florida. Military leaders and representatives from 17 countries in the Western Hemisphere have pledged to "operationalize hard power" to combat these criminal networks. The agreement emphasizes using "lethal military force" to destroy cartels, which the U.S. has designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Participating nations have committed to expanding cooperation on border security, intelligence sharing, and countering narco-terrorism. The United States has pledged to assist by training and mobilizing the militaries of partner nations to create a more effective joint fighting force. The coalition was attended by leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. Notably absent from the summit were the leaders of Mexico and Brazil, two of the region's most powerful and populous nations. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly rejected any U.S. military intervention, calling the suggestion "unnecessary" and an affront to Mexico's sovereignty. Sheinbaum's government also vehemently denied Trump's claims of an "intolerable alliance" between the Mexican government and drug cartels as "slanderous." This new militarized strategy marks a significant shift from previous U.S. anti-cartel efforts like the multi-billion dollar Plan Colombia and the Mérida Initiative. While those programs also included security assistance, they had a broader scope that encompassed judicial reform and socio-economic development. The ACCC, in contrast, is explicitly focused on military force to dismantle cartel operations. The coalition is a response to the evolving and expanding power of transnational criminal organizations. Mexican cartels, such as the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and Sinaloa Cartel, have diversified beyond drug trafficking into illicit gold mining, fuel theft, and human smuggling, becoming major employers in some regions. These groups are reported to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually from activities like the avocado trade in Michoacán alone. The initiative is also a direct follow-up to other recent U.S. military actions in the region. This includes the January capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces and a series of strikes on vessels suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean. To lead this new diplomatic and security effort, President Trump has appointed former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. The formation of the ACCC signals a more interventionist U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere, framing the fight against organized crime as a military conflict akin to counter-terrorism operations against groups like ISIS. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated the coalition will be a "force for good, for peace through strength in this hemisphere."
