Trump, Hemisphere Allies Pledge To Mobilize Military Forces Against Drug Cartels

The outgoing homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, got a taste of her next role Saturday at a summit of conservative-leaning Latin American leaders who joined President Trump in signing a proclamation calling for the use of lethal military force against drug cartels and gangs.Ms. Noem, whose abrupt reassignment as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas was announced this week, joined Mr. Trump, three Cabinet secretaries, and a dozen foreign leaders at the president’s Doral golf club in Miami for the one-day summit of the newly created group.In remarks to the summit, Mr. Trump said military leaders from 17 countries have agreed to use “hard power” to defeat the region’s cartels and transnational gangs, addressing the danger they pose “by use of any necessary resources and legally available authorities.”According to an official text released by the White House, the proclamation says America 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.”In what appears to be a reference to China’s growing influence in the region, the proclamation also calls for America and its allies “to keep external threats at bay, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.”Ahead of the summit, the State Department had said it was convening “our strongest like-minded allies in our hemisphere … to advance strategies that stop foreign interference in our hemisphere, criminal and narco-terrorist gangs and cartels, and illegal and mass immigration.”Among those like-minded allies was President Javier Milei of Argentina, whose party secured a critical midterm victory in October after the U.S. Treasury provided a $20 billion bailout to help the country through a currency crisis; and President Nasry Tito of Honduras, elected in November after Mr. Trump threatened to cut off aid to the country if he did not prevail.Notably absent were the leaders of two countries whose cooperation could be critical to addressing narcotrafficking and illegal migration: Mexico and Colombia. Also not participating was the new de facto leader of Venezuela, Darcy Rodriguez, whose cooperation with the Trump administration has been touted since the seizure of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro.Other administration participants at the summit included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.Ms. Noem’s exact role with the group has not been spelled out, but in a social media post after her assignment was announced, she said she looked forward to working with top administration officials “to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”“In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” she wrote.The new group was formed after political disagreements torpedoed last year’s Summit of the Americas, an event normally held every three to four years and bringing together leaders of all the hemisphere’s 35 countries, sometimes excluding only Cuba.Much of the substantive work of Saturday’s summit was completed a day earlier, at a conference hosted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also at Doral. There, Mr. Hegseth and regional defense and security leaders from 16 other countries signed a joint security declaration, reaffirming their commitment to peace, sovereignty, and stability in the Western Hemisphere .“We, like you, want borders and sovereign territories that are secure; we want unfettered access to key terrain and trade so that our nations can industrialize; and we want to prevent external powers from threatening our peace and independence in our shared neighborhood,” Mr. Hegseth told the conference, according to a U.S. Southern Command release.Citing problems like human smuggling, violent crime, fentanyl, illegal border crossings, and what the administration labels as “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, Mr. Hegseth said America “is prepared to take on these threats and go on the offense alone, if necessary.”“However, it is our preference — and it is the goal of this conference — that in the interests of this [hemisphere], we all do it together; with you, with our neighbors and with our allies who are eager and willing and capable to do this,” he said. “This means that for every country in this hemisphere, border security must be your top priority.”

Trump, Hemisphere Allies Pledge To Mobilize Military Forces Against Drug Cartels

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