President Trump issued a proclamation on Saturday vowing to continue combating the threats posed by cartels. The proclamation follows the establishment of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition.
According to the proclamation, cartels and foreign terrorist entities “should be demolished to the fullest extent possible consistent with applicable law.” The United States and allied nations must “coordinate to deprive these organizations of any control of territory and access to financing or resources necessary to conduct their campaigns of violence,” it says. The nation will further “train and mobilize partner nation militaries to achieve the most effective fighting force necessary to dismantle cartels and their ability to export violence and pursue influence through organized intimidation.”
The U.S. will also keep “external threats at bay,” including any “malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.”
Kristi Noem, recently appointed as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, said during the Shield of the Americas Summit that the organization’s objectives are to “destroy the cartels, to go after these narcoterrorists that are destroying our people, killing our children and our grandchildren.” The group will seek to not only defend their own sovereignty, but to build upon their relationships to target cartel organizations, Noem explained.
President Trump declared during the summit that cartel violence is one of the greatest threats facing the Americas. “Cartel violence is the epicenter of instability across the Americas,” he said, adding, “No nation can stand alone against cartels this powerful. The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the powers of our militaries.”
