President Trump has signed security alliance with Latin American and Caribbean countries

United States President Donald Trump along with the leaders of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana and ten countries in Latin America have signed a major regional security alliance aimed at eradicating drug cartels across the Western Hemisphere.

The military alliance, known as the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition, was ratified following Trump’s signing of the Doral Charter at the Shield of the Americas summit in Doral, Florida on the weekend.

The Latin American countries present at the summit were Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Panama, Honduras, El Savador, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. The White House, however, confirmed that 17 nations will be part of the coalition

Addressing the Summit, President Trump said, “The heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all. We’ll get rid of them. We need your help.”

He added, “You have to just tell us where they are. We have amazing weaponry, as you probably noticed over the last short period of time.”

According to a media release from the White House, this agreement and coalition mean that, “The United States will train and mobilise partner nation militaries to achieve the most effective fighting force necessary to dismantle cartels and their ability to export violence and pursue intelligence through organised intimidation.”

President Trump told the various nations’ leaders in attendance, “I saw it so badly, how you’re suffering with what’s happening with the crime in the region. And I said, if we ever come back, we’re going to eradicate that crime, and I’m going to work with you, and if you want, we’re going to do it, we can do it pretty easily.

Trump said, “The nations gathered here today are filled with unlimited potential. You have tremendous potential. It’s a great part of the world. But to fulfil that tremendous potential, we must smash the grip of the cartels and criminal gangs and horrible organisations run by, in some cases, absolute animals, and truly liberate our people. And some people are afraid to do it, because they’ve gotten such a foothold. But I think you can get out of that, and we’ll work with you if you need.”

President Trump claimed that drugs coming through maritime transhipment points are down “96 per cent.”

“We’re trying to find out who the other 4 per cent are.”

President Trump also told the summit that the US is strengthening its military arsenal with 10 new battleships being constructed.

“Not to use them, we don’t want to use them, but by having them, nobody’s going to play games. Just good to have them, we don’t want to use them.”