Medellin, Colombia – Latin American leaders allied with President Donald Trump met this Thursday at the first America’s Counter-Cartel Conference, where Defense Secretary Pete Hessges called for cooperation in operations against drug cartels.
Representatives from 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Argentina, Honduras, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic, attended the meeting, held at the U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Florida.
Attendees signed an agreement agreeing to “join a coalition to fight narco-terrorism and other shared threats” through the “Peace Through Strength” initiative.
The summit follows the recent launch of a U.S. operation to stamp out drug trafficking in Ecuador and the role of Washington intelligence agencies in tracking down Mexican cartel leader El Mencho.
Amid the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, White House National Security Advisor Stephen Miller reiterated the importance of continued military action in Latin America. “The cartels operating in this hemisphere are the ISIS and Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere and must be treated with the same cruelty and ruthlessness with which we treat those organizations.”
Hesgeth went on to commemorate the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which established America’s aspirations for hegemony over the Americas.
“We, like you, want secure borders and sovereign territory. We want free access to vital terrain and trade so that our nation can industrialize. (…) No outside power will interfere in this hemisphere,” the Secretary of War said.
Trump himself acknowledged modeling his foreign policy on 19th-century ideas, referring to the “Donro Doctrine” following the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
His second term saw increased military action throughout Latin America. Since September, at least 148 people have been killed in U.S. airstrikes on ships suspected of smuggling drugs in waters around Latin America and the Caribbean.
Many delegates at the conference were keen to express their shared views on the need for a tough policy against organized crime. El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, Rene Merino Monroy, has defended his country’s ‘mano dura’ (iron fist) mass incarceration policy, which has dramatically reduced murders, but has also drawn criticism from human rights groups.
“Contrary to the opinion of international organizations, the president (Nayib Bukele) mobilized the military to fight the gang menace that was rampant at the time,” he said.
“The state cannot be weaker than its crime (…) I am glad to bring back the Monroe Doctrine.”
Many Latin American leaders who have voiced criticism of Trump’s policies, including Colombia’s Gustavo Petro and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum, did not attend.
Featured image: Conference attendees.
Image credit: Pete Hesgeth via X
