Belize Not Invited to US Shield of the Americas Anti-Cartel Summit

In related news, a major regional security summit hosted by the United States over the weekend drew leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean, but Belize was notably absent.  The gathering, known as the Shield of the Americas Summit, was held in Doral and convened by Donald Trump as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation across the Western Hemisphere against organized crime and transnational drug cartels. According to White House and regional reports, representatives from about a dozen countries attended the summit on March seventh, including leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.  However, official lists of invited or confirmed participants did not include Belize, with national leaders confirming the country was not invited to the high-profile meeting. In his opening remarks, President Trump urged regional partners to work together to confront violent criminal networks operating throughout the hemisphere. He also signed a proclamation launching what U.S. officials describe as the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition, a framework aimed at coordinated military and security efforts against cartel infrastructure. Senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Special Envoy Kristi Noem also took part in discussions on strengthening military cooperation to counter organized crime.  

Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Commander, U.S. Southern Command: “The Western Hemisphere is our neighborhood, and the Narco-Terrors who seek to export drugs and death to our shores and your shores will be dismantled and defeated. As allies and partners, we must take aggressive action together, sharing the burden through cooperation. We now call upon our long-standing relationships built on a foundation of trust and linked through shared culture, history, and economic aspirations to unite for the benefit of all our nations. Our mutual security is at stake. Through combined operations, training, exercises, intelligence and information sharing, we will achieve greater domain awareness, interoperability, and capacity to strengthen regional security. With all nations shouldering this burden, our collective resilience will prevent shared adversaries from using the region to further their maligned agendas. The time is now. Today marks the next step towards moving out to deter and defeat those who threaten the security, stability, and prosperity of the United States and this hemisphere. We all face these threats, and the most effective way to counter and eradicate them is by standing together.”

The summit drew attention not only for its focus on cartel threats but also for the absence of several major regional powers, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela.  As regional security cooperation continues to evolve, the absence of Belize from this key summit has sparked discussion among analysts and policymakers about the country’s role in hemispheric strategies against transnational crime.