Hegseth Touts Americas Counter Cartel Coalition During Panama Visit

In Panama today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told members of the recently established Americas Counter Cartel Coalition that the U.S. is firmly committed to working alongside them to dismantle dangerous transnational criminal drug cartels.

Launched in March by President Donald J. Trump, the coalition - sometimes called "Shield of the Americas" - is a U.S.-led multinational security and political alliance formed to combat transnational drug cartels, reduce illegal migration across the Western Hemisphere and limit foreign geopolitical interference.

"I'm grateful to be here with ministers and chiefs of defense, united in purpose and resolve, as partners in the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition," Hegseth said. "Just a few months ago, we laid out a shared vision for a safe, secure Western Hemisphere, where borders and laws are respected, and narco-terrorists are brought to swift and absolute justice."

Over the last two days, 19 partner members of the A3C met in Panama for a coalition-wide discussion. Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said A3C members share a common understanding of the threat posed by criminal networks operating in the hemisphere.

"Coalition campaigning creates systemic friction on these networks," he said. "Our strength is in our complementary capabilities. Persistence and unity will drive scale and will drive victory."

During the meetings, Donovan said, next steps were decided, which included refining priority network campaign plans, designating roles and lead nations, establishing working groups with specific objectives and milestones, and initiating coalition campaign assessments.

"Between now and November, we are going to write an A3C campaign plan," he said. "We will staff it with our teammates and our members here in the room, and we'll approve it by November."

The general also said coalition nations are eager to volunteer to lead in areas important to them.

"Yesterday, by the end of our session, we went out and made the initial pulse … who wants to lead in different regions? Who wants to lead to … go after these networks?" Donovan said. "We had volunteers right away, nations that wanted to step forward and take [the] lead in subregions and go after certain threats."

The United States, Hegseth said, is committed to dismantling the drug cartels that threaten safety, security and sovereignty in the Western Hemisphere.

"When we say we will dismantle the cartels, we mean it, and I know the nations of this coalition feel the exact same way ... and will take concrete steps - sometimes risky steps, courageous steps - in partnership."

The citizens of the U.S., of coalition partner nations, and of the entire Western Hemisphere, Hegseth said, deserve and expect real, concrete actions.

"We believe there's no time to waste and no better time than right now," he said. "We will be with you, I pledge to you, from the White House to the Pentagon, shoulder to shoulder, every step of the way."

The nations in the coalition are united by heritage, history, faith, geography, and a shared interest in security and prosperity, Hegseth said, adding that narco-terrorism threatens all of that.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting our ability to find, fix and finish narco-terrorist targets," he said."

As head of the A3C, the secretary also announced an update for the coalition.

"The new motto of the A3C is 'We do bad things to bad people,'" he said. "That's the mentality I want to have inside this room. ... We're dealing with bad people that have done a lot of bad things to a lot of good people, for a very long time. And they're about to meet a new sheriff in town in the A3C. And we mean business. Narco-terrorists … drug traffickers are hereby on notice. Under President Trump, we will make the Americas great again. The safety and prosperity of one will strengthen the safety and prosperity of all."

During his visit to Panama, the secretary met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and also has plans to meet with U.S. service members at the jungle operations training course and observe Panamax training events.