Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel on March 7 denounced a US‑hosted summit in Florida, branded the “Americas Shield,” as a meeting of “new colonialist character.” Posting on social media, Díaz‑Canel said the event’s real aim was to persuade regional governments to accept US military intervention in their domestic affairs, a step he argued would erode the Declaration that designates Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace and undermine efforts at regional integration.
The criticism came after US President Donald Trump used the summit to press Latin American governments to take tougher measures against organised crime, offering American support. Trump also asserted that Cuba was “in its final moments,” remarks that reinforce long‑standing US rhetoric about the island’s political future and that Cuban state media used to rally domestic opposition to what it calls US hegemony.
The dispute matters because it touches on two contested fault lines in hemispheric politics: the scope of US security engagement in the Americas and the principle of national sovereignty that many Latin American governments — and blocs such as CELAC — hold central. For decades Washington has oscillated between bilateral security cooperation, covert operations and diplomatic pressure; proposals for a more overt military role feed historical memories of intervention across the region and complicate relations with governments sensitive to sovereignty and regional multilateralism.
Strategically, the summit illustrates how Washington is attempting to reassert influence in its near abroad by framing regional partnerships through the prism of security, while opponents portray those moves as a cover for political control. The immediate effect is likely to be a sharpening of political rhetoric: governments that welcome US assistance will have to manage domestic criticism about sovereignty; governments opposed to US involvement will use the episode to strengthen anti‑American alliances and domestic cohesion. Longer term, the debate over the Americas Shield could deepen polarisation in regional institutions and drive Latin American states to pursue more diversified security and diplomatic ties.