This weekend saw the announcement of something called the “Shield of the Americas” initiative by the Trump Administration. The announcement, made by President Trump himself, and attended by a number of his Cabinet Members (Rubio, Hegseth, Lutnick and Greer) was made in the company of 12 Leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean. Caribbean leaders present were President Irfan Ali of Guyana and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago.
Although the U.S. Administration has not yet released any detailed description of the “Shield of the Americas”, President Trump’s statement suggests that is designed to be:
- A regional security framework focused on:
- Combating organized crime
- Addressing migration flows
- Countering drug trafficking
- A multinational military and security cooperation initiative aimed at coordinating intelligence and operations against transnational criminal organizations, especially drug cartels.
- A coalition involving 13–17 participating states across the Americas, depending on the source and stage of rollout.
Although only the two Caribbean leaders noted above attended the “Shield of the Americas” launch, The Bahamas and Belize attended an early meeting hosted by Secretary of War Hegseth. And all 4 CARICOM countries signed what was called “Americas Counter Cartel Conference Joint Security Declaration” coming out of that meeting. See text and signatures of Americas Counter Cartel Conference Joint Security Declaration
Details are still in short supply but several media outlets in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana have stories on the initiative. See
T&T joins Trump’s anti-cartel coalition | Local News | trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad PM proud of US partnership – Stabroek News
Until additional information is released, either by the U.S. or by the countries participating in the “Shield of the Americas” Initiative, firm conclusions are difficult to draw. However, there appear to be a number of interesting implications of this U.S. initiative.
- The U.S. Caribbean relationship is now clearly a security-first engagement which will be seen by the U.S. Administration as approval for the kind of lethal force against suspected drug smugglers. The U.S. is unlikely to prioritize issues such as development cooperation, governance and institutional strengthening, climate resilience etc. Other donors, including Canada, may be called upon by the Caribbean to step into this gap.
- CARICOM’s demonstrated divisions around recent U.S. military actions in the region now appear to formalized. It would appear that the U.S. recognizes a kind of two tier Caribbean…those that are part of the Initiative… and those who are not. What that will do to the operation of a unified CARICOM remains to be seen.
- the presence of the group of U.S. Cabinet Secretaries suggests that a wide range of policy issues were discussed. Whether there are specific initiatives now expected of “Shield members” related to reducing the influence of China, or related to Cuba remains to be seen, as does the question of whether further initiatives in the fields of energy, trade, migration etc. will be forthcoming.