Twelve U.S.-allied Latin American heads of state will join President Donald Trump in Miami on Saturday at the upcoming “Shield of the Americas” Summit, a security initiative focused on stopping regional threats and foreign malign influence as part of President Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine.”
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead Saturday’s upcoming summit, which will be hosted by Trump National Doral Miami in Florida. In a brief Friday morning statement, the U.S. State Department detailed that Shield of the Americas will see Latin America’s strongest U.S.-aligned nations in the Western Hemisphere join Trump and Rubio to promote freedom, security, and prosperity.
“This historic coalition of nations will work together to advance strategies that stop foreign interference in our hemisphere, criminal and narco-terrorist gangs and cartels, and illegal and mass immigration,” the State Department said, and noted that select Summit events will be streamed online live at the White House’s digital platforms and the State Department’s website and official YouTube channel.
Trump revealed in a Truth Social post on Thursday that outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Kristi Noem will serve as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Trump announced in the same post that he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to replace Noem as head of the DHS.
“I look forward to working with Kristi Noem as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas — our new security initiative comprised of 13 countries,” Sec. Rubio said on a Thursday social media post.
“Kristi has achieved incredible results as Secretary of Homeland Security and will be a tremendous asset in our effort to promote security and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere,” he continued.
“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. @SecRubio and @SecWar are incredible leaders and I look forward to working with them closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren,” Noem wrote on social media.
“The Western Hemisphere is absolutely critical for U.S. security. In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” she continued.
Initial details of the upcoming Summit were disclosed by Argentine government sources in mid-February. At the time, sources claimed to the Argentine news outlet Infobae that one of the Summit’s goals is to “stop China’s encroachment in the region” and confirmed that President Javier Milei will participate in the event. Days later, Paraguay’s conservative President Santiago Peña personally confirmed his participation by posting a copy of his invitation on social media. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained this week that the Summit’s aim is to promote “freedom, security, and prosperity in our region.”
In addition to Peña and Milei, the list of 12 confirmed participating heads of state include El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, Panama’s José Raúl Mulino, the Dominican Republic’s Luis Abinader, Costa Rica‘s outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves and President-elect Laura Fernández, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Honduras’ Nasry Asfura, Guyana’s Irfaan Ali, and Chile’s conservative President-elect José Antonio Kast, who till take office on March 11.
Telemundo reported that the leftist governments of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, as well as Venezuela’s “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez, were among those not invited by President Trump to participate in the event. Asked by reporters for comment on the upcoming summit, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reportedly said on Thursday that she did not precisely know which countries would attend or what the specific objective of the meeting was — asserting that, without that information, it was difficult to give an opinion on the matter.
“I don’t know exactly which countries will be attending, as we have to wait and see what the objective of the meeting is before we can give an opinion,” Sheinbaum said.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
