The Shield of the Americas coalition, led by the US and comprising 14 other Latin American countries, uses the fight against drug cartels as a pretext to interfere in Latin American countries and block China’s economic influence in the region.

The statement comes from experts in Latin American international relations consulted by Agência Brasil, such as Danilo Enrico Martuscelli, a professor of political science at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU).

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“The Shield of the Americas is a resumption of the process of attempting colonial or imperial annexation of Latin American countries by the US, driven by a geopolitical logic of commercial and technological competition with China,” he argued.

This week, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, the 15 countries in the coalition released a document stating their intention to bring the proposal to combat drug cartels before the Organization of American States (OAS).

In the released document, the nations also agreed to designate 24 drug trafficking groups as “terrorist” organizations, including the Brazilian groups Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV).

Expert Danilo Enrico Martuscelli describes the policy of Donald Trump’s second term as one of “open imperial aggression” and, in questioning the White House’s policy on combating cartels, points out that Trump himself granted a pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced to 45 years in prison for facilitating the importation of tons of cocaine into the US.

“Would someone committed to fighting drug trafficking grant a pardon and release a drug trafficker? They want to fight drug trafficking, but in other people’s backyards. Domestically, what are they doing to control this organized crime?” asked Danilo Martuscelli.

Created in March this year, the Shield of the Americas currently includes the US, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Interference in Latin America

Robson Valdez, a professor of international relations at the Brazilian Institute of Education, Development, and Research (IDP), noted that the focus of the Shield of the Americas is the possibility of using drug trafficking to legitimize interference in Latin America.

“And, indirectly, this signals to China that its relations with countries in the region would have to be reassessed from the perspective of US foreign policy,” he remarked.

According to Valdez, the coalition aims “primarily to [legitimize] the physical presence of US troops in the region under the pretext of combating organized crime.”

Brazil

Despite not having been invited to participate in the initiative, the Brazilian government views the Shield of the Americas with caution, while continuing to cooperate internationally with countries in the region to combat organized crime.

From Brasília’s perspective, the initiative could be used by Washington to secure automatic alignment on economic issues, with possible restrictions on China’s presence in Latin America.

In announcing the coalition, the Trump administration stated that the initiative aims not only to combat drug trafficking but also to “keep external threats at bay, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.”

The Shield at the OAS

In the joint document published this week, the group states it intends to submit a proposal to the OAS for joint action by member countries in the fight against drug trafficking.

Once the formal meeting of the OAS consultative body is scheduled, the nations say they “intend to participate at the ministerial level to consider adopting a resolution promoting and facilitating collective action against narco-terrorist organizations under the Rio Treaty [TIAR, Inter-American Treaty on Reciprocal Assistance].”

Signed in 1947, during the Cold War, the TIAR stipulates that “an act of aggression against one American state constitutes an act of aggression against all other American states.”

Professor Danilo Martuscelli notes that, by bringing the issue to the OAS, the US-led group is attempting to pressure countries that have not yet endorsed the proposal – such as Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Canada.

“The appeal to the OAS is intended to lend some institutional legitimacy to this policy of open imperial pressure,” he said.

The Brazilian government is awaiting the presentation of the Shield of the Americas proposal to the OAS to determine whether it will support or reject a potential resolution by the international organization on the matter.

Drugs and the economy

The coalition’s document released in New York combines the fight against drugs with measures for “economic cooperation” among countries, including the protection of “supply chains for critical minerals through diversified and reliable sources.”

Critical minerals, which are key supplies in the technology, defense, and energy transition industries, are one of the focal points of the trade and technology dispute between Washington and Beijing.

“[We defend our economies] by promoting regulations on trusted suppliers for digital infrastructure, applied in a non-discriminatory manner,” the joint document adds.

Professor Valdez added that the Shield of the Americas could be used to mandate the sale of US military equipment, “which strips countries of their autonomy to choose their partners for arms purchases.”