Guyana, Trinidad leaders in Shield of the Americas meeting in New York

Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, 19:35 by Written By Denis Chabrol

President Irfaan Ali said he Tuesday afternoon met with United States President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and signed a Shield of the Americas memorandum of understanding.

“We adopted a Joint Communiqué declaring our intent to strengthen the resilience of the Western Hemisphere based on three pillars: economic, security and multilateral coordination,” he said on Facebook.

Dr Ali said the the meeting, convened by President Trump, called for enhanced collective action to combat narco-terrorism and greater efforts to strengthen the resilience of the Western Hemisphere through economic, security and multilateral coordination

.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other leaders of member states of the Shield of the Americas participated in the meeting.

Among them was Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. In her address to the UN General Assembly Tuesday evening, she welcomed the Shield of the Americas initiative to go after narco-traffickers. “We have strengthened cooperative efforts with the United States and other partners to dismantle criminal syndicates that have wreaked havoc across our country and across our region. This is why we have profound gratitude to President Trump for his invitation to Trinidad and Tobago earlier there to be part of the newly formed Shield of the Americas and the Americas counter cartel coalition. We remain confident that this partnership will continue to promote freedom, security, and prosperity in our region,” she said. 

The Shield of the Americas comprises the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.