
President Donald Trump convened leaders from 12 Latin American and Caribbean nations at a Miami‑area summit to unveil the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, branded the Shield of the Americas. The new military‑focused alliance, backed by senior U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and policy chief Stephen Miller, pledges to eradicate regional drug cartels through force. Attendees included right‑leaning allies like Argentina’s Javier Milei and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, while left‑leaning Brazil, Colombia and Mexico were excluded. The coalition follows recent U.S. strikes in Ecuador and the Eastern Pacific, marking an unprecedented military footprint in the hemisphere.

At the CARICOM summit in St. Kitts and Nevis, leaders denounced U.S. interventions, highlighting a de‑facto oil blockade on Cuba and pressure on the island’s medical‑mission exports. Prime Minister Terrance Drew described severe shortages of food, water and electricity, while...