Trump rallies Shield of the Americas against cartels as coalition backs sanctions push

Donald Trump has rallied an anti-cartel alliance of Latin American and Caribbean nations behind a new sanctions push, casting drug trafficking groups as “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere” during his address to the UN General Assembly.

Speaking in New York on Tuesday (September 22), the US president vowed to reassert American dominance across the Western Hemisphere, warning that Washington would use its “unmatched military might” against regional threats. He then met leaders and foreign ministers from the Shield of the Americas — the anti-cartel coalition his administration launched in March — at UN headquarters.

Trump asked the allies to join the United States in designating 24 narcotrafficking groups as threats to stability and imposing sanctions. Fifteen governments later issued a joint statement pledging asset freezes, visa restrictions and criminal liability for members and supporters of the 24 organisations. The list is topped by Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Tren de Aragua — the Venezuelan gang active in Colombia, Peru and Chile — alongside major Mexican cartels, Colombia’s ELN, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho, and Peru’s Shining Path.

Trump cited the US raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and a subsequent oil deal with the interim government, as proof of Washington’s willingness to act. Brazil and Mexico have not joined the coalition; Colombia and Peru signed on after Trump-aligned presidents took power in recent months.

IMAGE: none (image_exception — no suitable licensed image; standing rule: never manufacture images of real events).