Coalition Against Cartels | Coalición contra los cárteles

By Carlos Corz, Visión 360:

Paz Says in the U.S. He Didn’t Come to Ask for Permission; Without Bolivia There Is No Security or Full Regional Development

Bolivia and 11 other countries are part of a military coalition against the cartels. President Donald Trump proposed and consolidated the bloc.

Los presidente Rodrigo Paz y Donald Trump en Estados Unidos. Foto tomada de la cuenta en RRSS del presidente Rodrigo Paz

Presidents Rodrigo Paz and Donald Trump in the United States. Photo taken from the social media account of President Rodrigo Paz.

At the summit convened by President Donald Trump, “we did not come to ask for permission, but to propose and contribute to a stage of stability, trade, and regional development, because without Bolivia there is no hemispheric security nor full development,” President Rodrigo Paz said this Saturday.

“I said it firmly today: without Bolivia there is no hemispheric security nor full economic development in our region. Because of our strategic location, our people, and our resources, Bolivia is once again sitting at the table where the future of the continent is decided,” he stated.

Paz, together with 11 other heads of state, participated in the Summit of the Shield of the Americas, which ultimately constituted a military body called the Coalition of the Americas against the Cartels, a bloc made up of governments politically and ideologically aligned with Washington’s administration.

“On this historic day we gather to announce a new military coalition to eradicate the criminal cartels that plague our region,” Trump explained during a speech before signing a decree to formalize this new coalition with 12 countries, according to EFE.

Paz highlighted Trump’s leadership in defending the interests of his nation and assured that “like Bolivia, we come with the same clarity: to defend the interests of the homeland and of the continent.”

After the summit, those invited to the meeting at Trump National Doral Miami — a resort with a golf course owned by the U.S. president — attended a luncheon that the host did not participate in; instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was present.

“We know something fundamental: without security there is no investment, and without investment there are no jobs. Bolivia does not come to ask for permission; Bolivia comes to propose and to lead a new stage of stability, trade, and development for Latin America,” the Bolivian president stated.

Paz resumed the alliance with Washington after it had been frozen during the 19 years of governments led by the Movement for Socialism. There is now a fluid relationship and the restoration of ambassadors is taking shape, after in 2008, during the government of former president Evo Morales, Ambassador Philip Goldberg was expelled.

Left-wing leaders were not invited, such as the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. Those who did attend included the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves; the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; El Salvador, Nayib Bukele; Honduras, Nasry Asfura; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Paraguay, Santiago Peña; and Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, as well as Chile’s president-elect, José Antonio Kast.

Leave a comment