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Trump brings together 12 Latin American leaders at the 'Shield of the Americas' Summit in Miami
The summit 'Shield of the Americas' was held this Saturday at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, bringing together Donald Trump with leaders from 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries in the first multilateral meeting with heads of state from the region called by his administration in the second term. According to sources from the State Department, the event signifies a new approach in U.S. regional diplomacy.
The stated goal of the event, according to White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, is to "promote freedom, security, and prosperity in our region". The agenda revolves around three key areas: combatting drug trafficking and cartels, reducing irregular migration, and counteracting the influence of China, Russia, and Iran in the Western Hemisphere.
Participants in the summit included Javier Milei (Argentina), Nayib Bukele (El Salvador), Daniel Noboa (Ecuador), Santiago Peña (Paraguay), Rodrigo Chaves (Costa Rica), José Raúl Mulino (Panama), Xiomara Castro (Honduras), Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic), José Antonio Kast (president-elect of Chile, taking office on March 11), Rodrigo Paz (Bolivia), Mohamed Irfaan Ali (Guyana), and Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. From Washington, there were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Notably absent were Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, the three most important commercial and strategic partners of the U.S. in the region. Mexico's exclusion is particularly striking: it shares over 3,000 kilometers of border with the U.S. and is its largest trading partner under the USMCA. The summit was not designed to bring together the most relevant countries in the region, but rather those that are ideologically aligned with the White House.
The meeting lacked a rigid formal structure. The Panamanian president Mulino himself acknowledged this days prior: "In reality, there isn't a very defined format". He described the event as a lunch with the 12 leaders and Trump at the forefront, with an agenda distributed according to the strategic importance of each country for Washington.
The summit was preceded by the First Anti-Cartel Conference of the Americas, held last Wednesday at the SOUTHCOM headquarters in Doral, where Hegseth signed a Joint Security Declaration with representatives from 17 countries. During this event, it was highlighted that the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. decreased by 56%.
Kristi Noem, removed as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security last Wednesday after 13 months in office, was appointed special envoy for the 'Shield of the Americas'. Rubio described her as a "great asset" to advance the initiative. Senator Markwayne Mullin will replace her at the DHS starting March 31.
Unlike the Summit of the Americas that began in 1994 under Bill Clinton, which emphasized inclusive regional integration, the 'Shield of the Americas' establishes participation criteria based on political affinity with Washington and concrete commitments regarding security, marking a significant shift in U.S. regional diplomacy.
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