WASHINGTON – The United States is expanding the use of visa restrictions and other measures against individuals it accuses of supporting or facilitating transnational criminal organizations as part of a broader regional initiative known as the “Shield of the Americas.”
The initiative, promoted by the administration of President Donald Trump, was launched during a summit in Doral, Florida, in March 2026. It seeks to strengthen cooperation among governments across the Americas on security, economic issues and foreign policy, with particular emphasis on combating drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.
Under the initiative, participating countries are expected to improve intelligence sharing and coordinate law enforcement and security efforts against criminal networks operating across national borders. Washington considers those organizations a direct threat to U.S. national security as well as to countries throughout the region.
The initiative gained further momentum with a joint declaration on September 22 involving the United States and 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
The declaration identifies three principal areas of cooperation: economic cooperation, security and multilateral coordination.
One of the most significant elements is the possibility of taking action not only against members of criminal organizations but also against individuals accused of facilitating or protecting their activities.
Those measures can include immigration and visa restrictions, asset freezes and criminal accountability, depending on the domestic laws and international obligations of the countries involved.
That approach became more visible on September 28, when the U.S. government announced visa measures against 27 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, including current and former officials as well as some relatives.
Washington accused those targeted of involvement in corruption or of obstructing efforts to combat organized crime. The measures represent allegations and determinations by the U.S. government and do not in themselves establish criminal guilt.
Among those affected was Bolivian Attorney General Roger Mariaca, who rejected the U.S. action and characterized it as political pressure.
The development illustrates a broader component of Washington's strategy: the Trump administration argues that combating organized crime requires targeting not only criminal networks themselves but also people it believes are protecting or enabling those networks from within government institutions.
The visa measures are directed against specific individuals and should not be interpreted as restrictions against all citizens of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru.
The Shield of the Americas initiative therefore represents more than a traditional anti-narcotics strategy. It seeks to combine law enforcement cooperation, diplomacy, financial measures and immigration tools to increase pressure on transnational criminal organizations and those governments or individuals Washington believes are facilitating their activities.