Trump Urges Shield of the Americas Coalition to Deploy Military Might Against Drug Cartels

US President Donald Trump participated in a Shield of the Americas event on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 22, 2026. During the meeting of the Washington-led coalition, President Trump pledged to use unmatched military might against drug cartels operating in the Western Hemisphere.

Meeting with leaders and foreign ministers from the anti-cartel alliance on Tuesday, President Trump urged member nations to join the US in targeting 24 criminal organisations, which he previously characterized as the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere. He called on all nations within the Shield of the Americas to formally designate narco-terrorists as common threats to regional stability and apply crushing sanctions against these groups.

The gathering took place on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Following the meeting, the coalition’s 15 member governments issued a joint statement announcing their intention to impose asset freezes and visa restrictions on members and supporters of the targeted groups, as well as to pursue criminal charges against them.

At the forefront of the designated list are two organizations previously declared terrorist groups by Washington: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), one of Central America’s most powerful criminal gangs, and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang also active in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. The roster additionally includes major Mexican cartels, Colombian armed groups such as the National Liberation Army, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho groups, and Peru’s Shining Path.

Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, Colombia, noted that the joint statement remains largely symbolic for now, as each participating country must navigate its own legal procedures. He explained that in Colombia, for instance, a law must be passed in Congress, and the government has already asked Congress to move forward with drafting such legislation. While immediate consequences may not follow, he described the move as an important step toward building the alliance that the US has sought to establish in Latin America.

The coalition comprises governments closely aligned with President Trump, including Argentina, Ecuador, and El Salvador, whose leaders have received praise or endorsement from the US president. Colombia and Peru joined after Trump-aligned presidents took office in recent months, though Brazil and Mexico have chosen not to participate.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the gathering, praised the emergence of strong leaders committed to confronting transnational terrorism. The event marked the administration's latest push to rally the region behind a more aggressive strategy against drug trafficking. Since returning to office last year, President Trump has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organisations and ordered numerous strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific suspected of carrying narcotics bound for the US.

Those military strikes have resulted in the deaths of more than 223 people, drawing criticism from UN experts who argue the actions violate international law and could potentially amount to crimes against humanity. The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, published late last year, outlined plans for a revamped Monroe Doctrine—the 19th-century policy asserting US primacy in the hemisphere that critics associate with historical US interventionism. President Trump has also previously discussed retaking the Panama Canal and annexing Greenland and Canada, though on Tuesday he signed an agreement on Greenland that did not meet his demand for the island to become US territory.

This renewed focus on the hemisphere has sparked concern across the region. During his UN speech, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva challenged the approach, cautioning Latin American and Caribbean nations against renewed hegemonic temptations and declaring that Brazil is nobody's back yard.