President Irfaan Ali joined US President Donald Trump and 11 other leaders from the Americas on Saturday in Florida for the launch of the US-led Shield of the Americas initiative.

The Shield of the Americas aims to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorists operating in the Western Hemisphere, with the US Government already designating a number of cartels and transnational gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.

The only other CARICOM state invited to participate in Saturday’s meeting was Trinidad and Tobago. Over the past several months, the US has been carrying out a number of strikes and operations within the Caribbean region to tackle the drug trade. Several suspected drug boats were targeted and destroyed, resulting in the death of dozens of suspected drug traffickers.

In an interview at the Summit with US Network, FOX News, President Irfaan Ali said Guyana is fully supportive of the establishment of the Shield of the Americas and the actions by the US President to fight drug cartels in the region.

“We agree totally with President Trump. The region itself has made many public comments in relation to drug cartels operating and using our airspace, using our exclusive economic zone, and this is not something that was there yesterday. We have always complained about this and President Trump has taken a direct approach on this issue and it is an issue that has really hampered our development. It is an issue that has exposes our borders to transnational criminals and criminal network. It is an issue that has exposed the region, and has given the region a bad name in terms of drugs, and so we support this strong action on drug cartels. We support the charter to deal with transnational crime, especially the narcoterrorism and these cartels”, President Ali told Fox News.

The US Government has now established the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which represents a pledge from military leaders and representatives from 17 countries demonstrating that the region is ready to operationalize hard power to defeat the threats to the security and civilization of the region.

In a signed Proclamation by the US President, it states that Criminal cartels and foreign terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere should be demolished to the fullest extent possible consistent with applicable law, and the United States and its allies should coordinate to deprive these organizations of any control of territory and access to financing or resources necessary to conduct their campaigns of violence.

The United States has also pledged to 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.

Additionally, the US President has proclaimed that the United States and its allies should keep external threats at bay, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.

At Saturday’s Summit in Doral, Florida, the US President told the leaders gathered that the US stands ready to fight alongside with them in the ongoing war on cartels and narcotics.

“Every leader here today is united in the conviction that we cannot and will not tolerate the lawlessness in our hemisphere any longer. The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power, our militaries, we have to use our military. You have to use your military. You, you can’t fight these people with, and you have great police. You have some great police, but they threaten your police, they scare your police. Gonna use your military. In many cases, our forces have already been working closely with yours, and the United States looks forward to deepening and expanding that cooperation in the months ahead. And it’s so good that we got to know so many of you”, President Trump said.

The US President also said that under the new doctrine, the US will not allow hostile, foreign influence to gain a foothold in the western hemisphere. He said together, the nations in the Americas will protect their sovereignty, security, and their cherished freedom and independence.

Related posts:

Guyana signs onto US-led Joint Security Declaration for Western Hemisphere Guyana unaware of US Government’s plans for Venezuela -says VP Jagdeo President Ali to lead Guyana delegation to Summit of the Americas Guyana and US ink more support for fighting narco trafficking under CBSI