A3C Coalition meets in Santo Domingo: 19 countries plan strategy against cartels
Defence and security authorities from 19 nations debate an operational plan against transnational organised crime and drug trafficking in Santo Domingo.
Summits against cartels: Santo Domingo hosts A3C Coalition conference with 19 countries
Defence and public security authorities from 19 countries met in Santo Domingo to participate in the Conference of the Coalition of the Americas Against the Cartels (A3C), the Dominican Government reported on Tuesday. Elnuevodiario.com.do reports that the meeting, which began on Monday and concluded on Tuesday, aimed to strengthen regional cooperation against transnational organised crime and drug trafficking.
During the sessions, participants worked on designing "an operational strategic plan and a governance charter" with defined priorities, coordination mechanisms and the coalition's operational structure.
"These efforts will strengthen the exchange of intelligence and information, expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation and develop combined operations aimed at dismantling criminal networks, protecting borders and critical infrastructure and preserving collective security," stated a joint communiqué from the Dominican Government and the United States Southern Command, organisers of the event.
The conference was opened by President Luis Abinader, United States Ambassador Leah Francis Campos, the head of Southern Command General Francis L. Donovan, and Dominican Defence Minister Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández. The organisers described the meeting as a "strategic step" to provide a more coordinated response to organised crime through the integration of capabilities among member countries.
The A3C was announced on 7 March in Miami by President Donald Trump during a meeting of Defence and public security officials convened by his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. On that occasion, the countries signed a cooperation agreement to jointly confront the threats posed by organised crime.
A follow-up meeting held on 11 August in Panama City allowed progress in defining mechanisms to launch the operational phase of the coalition.
"One of the coalition's main objectives is to go beyond isolated interdiction actions to comprehensively address the structures that sustain criminal activities, including their networks of illicit financing, logistics and corruption," stated the official information.
The Coalition of the Americas Against the Cartels comprises the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Guatemala, Jamaica, Peru and Colombia, the latter being the most recent to join following the arrival in power of President Abelardo de la Espriella.
The A3C functions as an independent but complementary initiative to the Shield of the Americas, a coalition also promoted by the Trump administration alongside several Latin American countries, aimed at coordinating economic cooperation, the fight against cartels and other regional security matters. "Through the timely exchange of intelligence and greater operational coordination, the nations aim to limit the capacity for expansion of these organisations," added the communiqué.
Source: Google News DO — Santo Domingo