The absence of key countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil at the Shield of the Americas raised questions in Uruguay. Pro-government and opposition legislators debated the meaning of the meeting in Florida and the possible use of armed forces to combat cartels in the region.
Uruguayan Senator Daniel Caggiani, of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front), considered the exclusions of some countries from the so-called Shield of the Americas summit rare and pointed out their militaristic purposes. “It seemed to be a meeting of ideological friends rather than a summit to combat drug trafficking,” said the member of the International Affairs Committee of the upper house.
He said of the absence of Mexico and Colombia, countries “that have had a lot of work in that regard,” was rare, as well as the absence of Brazil. He said of the statements and resolutions of the summit, “it seems that the military take joint actions on drug trafficking at internal level of the countries, and that is something which is prohibited by the Constitution in Uruguay.”
“It gives an idea of the militarisation of the anti-drug policy, which has already failed; from the 1980s until now, it has not had a positive outcome,” he stressed. Caggiani maintained that there is a “medium ideological fragmentation between the friends of the Trump administration and those who are not so friends.”
He said that Uruguay should have “a Defence policy of its national sovereignty and try to articulate aspects with the regions of the South American continent to face these issues.”
“The problems of drug trafficking are resolved with more government interaction in some areas, such as in the fight against poverty, the right to development and the possibility of generating work and investment circuits; and less government involvement in military matters, because that, without a doubt, has been a great failure,” he insisted.
In turn, Caggiani stressed that the intervention against “narcoterrorism” is the new battle horse “to intervene internally in the reality of some countries.”
He added as an example that, very recently, “apparently, Venezuela was one of the main drug trafficking problems that the United States had,” but “they were not even invited to the summit,” so that is also “quite strange.” Meanwhile, representatives of the opposition National Party criticised the absence of Uruguay at the meeting held last Saturday in Florida, United States. “The government says it is concerned about drug trafficking and money laundering, but it leaves us out of a key regional alliance,” former Interior Minister Nicolás Martinelli wrote on his X account.
According to White Party (Partido Blanco) deputy Juan Martín Rodríguez, member of the International Affairs Committee of the lower house, Uruguay was invited but President Yamandú Orsi “made the decision not to be there.” The legislator considered it “very serious” if the government had given up participating in that forum.
For Donald Trump, the “heart” of the agreement adopted at the summit was “the commitment to use lethal military force” to destroy those, who Washington calls, terrorists as “sinistrous cartels and terrorist networks.” PL
(Translated by Susan Seccombe) – Photos: Pixabay
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