Trump announces creation of new coalition to fight drug cartels
According to The Hill, he made the announcement during the“Shield of the Americas” summit in Miami, Ukrinform reports.
“On this historic day, we come together to announce a brand-new military coalition to eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region,” Trump said during the event, which was attended by leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.
“And you have a lot of it [cartels],” the president told the heads of state, adding that the US is ‘knocking the hell out of’ the cartels and promising to “go heavier.”
In total, at least 17 countries signed a new agreement called the “America’s Counter Cartel Coalition,” which, according to Trump, “has to do with drugs, largely.”
“The heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks. Once and for all, we’ll get rid of them,” he stated.
Addressing the leaders, Trump added, “We’ll need your help. You just have to tell us where they are. We have amazing weaponry, as you probably noticed over the last short period of time.”
Saturday's meeting followed Trump's announcement on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem would serve as special envoy to this new “Shield of the Americas” security initiative.
During the meeting, Trump also mentioned the overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the US military in January, calling the operation “18 minutes of pure violence.”
As reported by Ukrinform, in the middle of the week, the US and Ecuadorian militaries launched a joint operation to combat drug trafficking.
Photo: Gage Skidmore
