Donald Trump announces a new coalition. He wants to use the army to fight the cartels

US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday in Florida the establishment of a regional coalition to fight cartels. He called on Latin American countries to use their armed forces for this purpose. He accused Mexico of being a country ruled by cartels and being the epicenter of violence.

“On this historic day, we gather to announce a new military coalition to root out the criminal cartels that plague our region,” Trump said during Saturday's Shield of the Americas Summit in Florida. He announced that the new format of cooperation will be called the American Anti-Cartel Coalition.

As the president said, the states party to the agreement would commit “to use lethal military force to destroy sinister cartels and terrorist networks.”

– We have to use our army. You must also use the military, Trump said to the leaders of Latin American countries present at the summit. The meeting was attended by leaders of 12 countries, including: Honduras, Argentina and Bolivia, the AP reported.

The leaders of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia were absent. Trump said Saturday that Mexico is the “epicenter of cartel violence” and said the country is “ruled by cartels.” – We can't allow this. It's too close to us. Too close to you, he continued.

– Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate the Islamic State in the Middle East, now we must do the same to eradicate the cartels here – emphasized the US president.

By convening Saturday's summit, the president wanted to return attention, at least for a moment, to the Western Hemisphere, the AP noted. Trump has promised to restore U.S. dominance in the region and oppose what he sees as China's economic expansion in the area.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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