Weekly Report - 12 March 2026 (WR-26-10)

US President Donald Trump launched the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition on 7 March. He described the initiative as a “military coalition” dedicated to eradicating the region’s criminal cartels. Seventeen Latin American and Caribbean countries are included in the coalition, the leaders of which are all either close Trump allies or ideologically or politically aligned with the US president to some extent. Notably, the coalition does not include Mexico, despite the region’s largest cartels operating in the country. In the face of this snub, President Claudia Sheinbaum is standing by her government’s security strategy and its refusal to let the US military join operations to combat drug cartels in Mexican territory.