Newsletters
Peru is pursuing membership in the Shield of the Americas, President Donald Trump's hemispheric security alliance, the country's foreign minister announced Friday, signaling an early and emphatic foreign policy shift just days after conservative President Keiko Fujimori took office.
Speaking at an event in Lima, Foreign Minister Carlos Espa said the new government would advance the country's formal entry into the coalition. "We will deepen our excellent relations with the United States, a strategic partner, ally and friend," he added.
Espa, who previously worked at the U.S. embassy in Peru, also outlined plans to strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries to combat transnational crime.
Peru is one of the world's leading cocaine producers, sharing with Colombia near-exclusive global dominance over coca cultivation and cocaine output, according to United Nations data. International drug trafficking organizations operate extensively across both countries.
Launched in early March at Trump's Doral resort in Florida, the Shield of the Americas brings together governments across the Western Hemisphere to coordinate intelligence sharing, judicial cooperation, and security operations against drug cartels, migrant smuggling networks, and what U.S. officials have described as hostile foreign influence.
Member states include Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador, governments broadly aligned with Washington's security priorities. At least 17 nations have signed on to the coalition's founding declaration.
Fujimori had signaled interest in the alliance before her inauguration on July 28, when she was sworn in as Peru's ninth president in a decade after narrowly defeating left-wing rival Roberto Sanchez by fewer than 50,000 votes in June's runoff.
She campaigned on a promise to address soaring crime, pledging an "iron-fisted" crackdown modeled in part on policies pursued by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, a Shield of the Americas member.
Peru's move comes as Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, has also signaled plans to join the initiative.
Hard-right president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella indicated earlier this month that Bogota would formally join the coalition when he takes office in August.
Colombia's expected membership would represent a significant expansion of the alliance's reach.
Long the linchpin of U.S. counter-narcotics strategy in Latin America, Colombia was notably absent from the coalition's founding summit in March.
1 min read
Peru's diplomatic pivot reflects a wider conservative realignment taking shape across South America.
Fujimori, the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru in the 1990s and was later imprisoned for human rights abuses, won on a law-and-order platform at a moment of acute public anxiety over crime.
Her election, along with Colombia's imminent change of government, stands to deepen the Shield of the Americas' footprint in a region historically wary of Washington-led security frameworks.
Espa framed the alignment in unambiguous terms, saying Peru would pursue its "incorporation into the Shield of the Americas" as part of a broader effort to strengthen ties with the United States.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
