US President Donald Trump will meet with Latin American leaders at his Miami-area golf club on Saturday to discuss issues facing the region, from organized crime to illegal immigration.
What is expected at the “Shield of the Americas” Summit?
Dubbed the “Shield of the Americas” summit, the gathering aims to serve Washington by promoting US interests in the region and curbing the interests of foreign powers such as China.
In a March 6 press release, a US government spokesman said: “The United States will welcome our strongest like-minded allies in our hemisphere to promote freedom, security and prosperity in our region.”
“This historic coalition of nations will work together to advance strategies that will stop foreign interference in our hemisphere, criminal and narco-terrorist gangs and cartels, and illegal and mass immigration,” the statement said.
Who will attend?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will join Trump in Doral, Florida on Saturday, Axios reported.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will also attend as a special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Among the leaders attending the Florida summit are Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele – whose security interventions are seen as role models by many in the region.
Trump will also host the leaders of Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago — as well as Jose Antonio Casta, the president-elect of Chile.
According to reports, Mexico and Brazil, currently led by leftists Claudia Sheinbaum and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are unlikely to be absent from the summit.
“Without Mexico and Brazil, it won’t be very successful in dealing with these problems” of narcotics trafficking and the fight against terrorism, Irene Mia, a Latin America expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told AFP.
She added that Mexican cartels play a key role in the human trafficking supply chain and Brazilian ports are critical routes for narcotics trafficking to Europe.
Complete list of participants
A White House official told Axios that heads of state from 12 countries will meet, including:
- President of the Argentine Republic Javier Milei
- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira
- The newly elected president of Chile, José Antonio Kast
- Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles
- President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader
- Ecuadorian Constitutional President Daniel Noboa
- Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele
- Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali
- Honduran President Nasry “Tito” Asfura
- Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino Quintero
- Paraguayan President Santiago Peña
- Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar
The ‘Shield of the Americas’ comes at a crucial time
The “Shield of the Americas” summit comes soon after Trump ordered US strikes alongside Israel in Iran.
Just two months earlier, Trump had ordered a US military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and take him and his wife to the US to face drug conspiracy charges.
Trump has also hinted in recent days that communist-run Cuba is “next up” after ousting leaders in Venezuela and Iran.
In addition, most right-wing heads of state share concerns about the growing power of drug cartels in Latin America.
“All these countries used to be quite safe and didn’t really have a problem with organized crime, but thanks to the reorganization of the drug trade, they’ve seen increasing levels of organized crime,” Irene Mia, a Latin America expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told AFP.
Why it matters
According to Axios, while modern US presidents have typically shied away from exerting US influence in the Western Hemisphere, the summit underscores Trump’s willingness to reassert US control under his so-called “Donroe Doctrine”.
After years of neglect, Trump instituted the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Axios in an emailed statement.
“The president has successfully strengthened our relationship in our own backyard to make the entire region safer and more stable,” and the summit “will make America and our partners strong again.”
