The Shield of the Americas (SotA), also referred to by United States officials as the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C or ACCC), is a U.S.-led international military and political coalition established in March 2026 under U.S. president Donald Trump. Its original focus was cooperation against transnational organized crime, particularly drug-trafficking organizations, through intelligence sharing, law-enforcement coordination and greater use of participating countries' military capabilities.
The coalition originated at United States Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Florida, where the United States and 16 other governments signed the Americas Counter Cartel Conference Joint Security Declaration on March 5. Two days later, Trump hosted twelve Latin American and Caribbean leaders and political representatives at the inaugural Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami, publicly launching the initiative and urging participating governments to use military force against cartels and transnational gangs.
During 2026, the initiative developed beyond its founding declaration. SOUTHCOM established Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) in August as a U.S. operational headquarters intended to synchronize military activity with the A3C's 18 partner countries, while Colombia's accession brought the coalition to 19 countries including the United States.
At a second high-level Shield meeting in New York City on September 22, held alongside the Eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, 15 participating governments broadened the initiative to encompass economic security and multilateral coordination as well as counter-cartel security cooperation. They also announced coordinated measures directed at 24 organizations designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations and proposed consultation under the Rio Treaty.
History
Origins and formation
The Shield developed amid the second Trump administration's increased emphasis on the Western Hemisphere in U.S. national-security policy. Prior to the inaugural summit, analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies interpreted the planned gathering as part of a wider effort not only to combat organized crime but also to reduce Chinese strategic influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Polish Institute of International Affairs similarly described the March summit as combining cooperation against organized crime with the administration's effort to reinforce U.S. influence in the hemisphere.
On March 5, U.S. defense and security officials hosted representatives from 16 other governments at the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at SOUTHCOM headquarters in Doral. The resulting Joint Security Declaration stated the signatories' intention to expand bilateral and multilateral security cooperation, cooperate on border security, trafficking and critical-infrastructure protection, and participate in a coalition against what the document termed "narco-terrorism" and other shared threats.
The March 5 declaration was signed by the United States, Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. The declaration was executed in English and Spanish, with both texts described as equally authentic.
On the same day, Trump announced the appointment of former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem as U.S. special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Inaugural summit
On March 7, Trump convened the inaugural Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami. The meeting brought together representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago in addition to the United States. Chile was represented by president-elect José Antonio Kast, who had not yet taken office.
Trump presented the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition as the military and security partnership associated with the Shield and called on participating governments to increase the use of their armed forces against cartels and transnational gangs. Senior U.S. participants included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Noem.
The summit's agenda extended beyond counternarcotics. U.S. officials also linked the initiative to migration, protection of critical infrastructure and resistance to outside geopolitical influence in the hemisphere.
Although U.S. government sources and subsequent reporting sometimes treated "Shield of the Americas" and "Americas Counter Cartel Coalition" as alternative names for the same initiative, participation at the leaders' summit did not exactly match the states that had signed the March 5 security declaration.
Activation and Panama forum
In the months after the summit, participating countries continued existing bilateral security cooperation with the United States while the U.S. government sought to develop a more permanent regional coordination mechanism. SOUTHCOM described intelligence sharing, combined training, interoperability, maritime interdiction and partner-capacity building as areas of cooperation with A3C members.
On August 4, SOUTHCOM activated Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM), describing it as a purpose-built joint headquarters for synchronizing U.S. military operations with allied and partner countries throughout the hemisphere. SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan selected Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarrard to command the task force. The command said JTF-WHEM would integrate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, operational planning and multinational coordination while working with the 18 A3C partner nations.
On August 11–12, Panama hosted the second Americas Counter Cartel Coalition Forum. Ministers, chiefs of defense and senior security officials from the United States and the coalition's regional partners discussed the development of operational plans, division of responsibilities and multinational working groups.
Participants represented Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
At the forum, Hegseth announced that Colombia, under president Abelardo de la Espriella, had joined the coalition, bringing its membership to 19 countries including the United States. Colombia had been absent from the inaugural Shield summit under former president Gustavo Petro.
The Panama forum coincided with PANAMAX 2026, a multinational military exercise focused on the defense of the Panama Canal and surrounding region. The conjunction of the forum with the exercise reflected the coalition's growing emphasis on existing U.S.-led training, interoperability and planning mechanisms rather than the creation of a new standing multinational force.
InSight Crime described Colombia's accession as part of the coalition's rapid growth, while questioning how far its expanding membership had been translated into a common operational strategy.
Peru and the September meeting
Although Peru had signed the March 5 A3C security declaration, it had not participated in the inaugural heads-of-government Shield summit. On September 10, President Keiko Fujimori announced during a visit by Secretary Rubio that Peru would participate in the Shield of the Americas, emphasizing intelligence sharing and coordinated action against transnational criminal organizations.
On September 22, Trump convened what he described as the second meeting of the Shield of the Americas in New York City during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The governments of the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago issued the Joint Statement on Defending Hemispheric Sovereignty. The document expanded the publicly stated scope of the Shield around three headings: economic security, security cooperation and multilateral coordination.
The governments simultaneously announced their first collective initiative under the new framework, directed at 24 organizations already designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. The statement expressed an intention, subject to each government's domestic and international legal obligations, to employ measures including asset freezes, immigration and visa restrictions and penalties for knowingly providing material or logistical support.
The list included MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, Clan del Golfo, the National Liberation Army, several FARC dissident organizations, Shining Path, Brazil's Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho, and armed criminal organizations from Ecuador and Haiti.
The participating governments also said they intended to request a meeting of consultation within the Organization of American States under Articles 6 and 13 of the Rio Treaty to consider collective action against transnational criminal organizations.
The September meeting also had a domestic political consequence in Costa Rica. On September 24, President Laura Fernández dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar after he attended the meeting without informing her, which the Costa Rican government said prevented Fernández from attending herself. The government nevertheless reaffirmed the importance it attached to Costa Rican participation in the Shield.
Structure
Leadership and coordination
Leadership and coordination of the Shield is currently distributed across several U.S. offices and institutions rather than concentrated in a single publicly identified multinational headquarters.
The Shield of the Americas Summit gathers heads of state or government from member countries. Its main goal is to discuss economic, security, and multilateral coordination within the region. Kristi Noem, appointed U.S. special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, diplomatically coordinates with governments participating in the Summit on behalf of the United States.
The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition Forum is the A3C's operational conference. Pete Hegseth chairs the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition and so far presided over its fora, including the second A3C Forum in Panama in August 2026. His role concerns ministerial-level defense coordination rather than direct command of participating countries' armed forces. These meetings include ministers of defense or public security, along with military chiefs of military staff from member from member coubtrues, who coordinate on related issues such as drug trafficking, organized crime, and threats to critical infrastructure.
During his speech on August 12 at the second A3C Forum, SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis Donovan announced that the coalition will refine priority network campaign plans, assign roles and lead countries, establish working groups with specific objectives and milestones, and begin coalition campaign assessments by November 2026.