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Banderas de naciones americanas sobre una larga mesa de conferencias en una sala con ventanales
Imagen alusiva a la conferencia hemisférica contra los carteles celebrada en Santo Domingo. · Erick Prometeo Media

Santo Domingo hosts summit of 19 nations against the cartels

The Dominican Republic and the United States lead in Santo Domingo the coalition against the cartels conference, with authorities from 19 nations working on a…

--- The context --- The Dominican Republic and the United States are holding in Santo Domingo the Conference of the Coalition of the Americas Against the Cartels, a high-level meeting organized jointly by the Ministry of Defense and Southern Command. It brings together defense and public security authorities from 19 nations of the Western Hemisphere. --- The facts --- The working sessions were held on October 26 and 27. During those sessions, ministers and senior defense and security representatives work on drafting and formalizing a strategic operational plan and a governance charter. Those instruments will establish the priorities, the coordination mechanisms and the operating structure of the coalition. The stated objective is to transform multilateral commitments into concrete and sustainable actions against transnational organized crime and narcoterrorist organizations. The opening ceremony was headed by President Luis Abinader, Ambassador Leah Francis Campos, Commander Francis L. Donovan and Defense Minister Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre. --- The positions --- The conference is presented as a strategic step toward a more coordinated hemispheric response, integrating capabilities and strengthening cooperation mechanisms among the participating nations. All of this under principles of respect for sovereignty and for the legal frameworks of each state. As set out at the meeting, those efforts will strengthen intelligence and information exchange and expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation. They will also allow combined operations aimed at dismantling criminal networks, protecting borders and critical infrastructure and preserving collective security. --- What remains unknown --- The account does not detail the final content of the plan or the charter, nor which combined operations will be launched or on what timetable. --- Unanswered questions --- What concrete priorities will the coalition strategic operational plan finally set? How will responsibilities be shared among the 19 participating nations in combined operations? When will concrete and sustainable actions derived from the governance charter begin to be seen? What mechanisms will verify respect for the sovereignty and legal frameworks of each state? --- EPM analysis --- The trajectory helps measure the moment. The coalition was announced in March 2026, during a meeting convened in Miami by Pete Hegseth, where the participating nations signed a cooperation agreement. Later, in August, a follow-up meeting in Panama City advanced in defining mechanisms to launch its operational phase, a process that gains new momentum in Santo Domingo. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, having 19 nations work in Santo Domingo on a strategic operational plan and a governance charter is the step that separates a declaration from a coalition able to operate. The value of the meeting will lie in whether intelligence and information exchange, bilateral and multilateral cooperation and combined operations actually dismantle criminal networks and protect borders and critical infrastructure, always under respect for the sovereignty and legal frameworks of each participating state.
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