In New York, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump convened fifteen allied governments under the banner of the Shield of the Americas, invoking the specter of ISIS to describe the cartels he wants the hemisphere to dismantle together. The coalition's joint commitment to sanction twenty-four criminal organizations marks a significant rhetorical and diplomatic escalation — yet the absence of Brazil and Mexico, and Lula's pointed rebuke of 'hegemonic temptations,' reminds us that power assembled is not the same as power shared. What unfolds here is an old argument in
Trump mobilizes Western Hemisphere coalition with aggressive anti-cartel strategy
US military strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed more than 223 people according to reports.