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5. Hegseth urges Latin American countries to take a more aggressive approach with cartels

During a speech at the Americas Counter Cartel Conference in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, Hegseth addressed a room of Latin American leaders. He lamented that many leaders of Latin American countries “accepted the status quo to coexist with narcoterrorism” and described “the complacency of many neighbors in this hemisphere” as “a great betrayal.” 

“America is prepared to take on these threats and go on the offense alone, if necessary,” he asserted. “However, it is our preference, and it is the goal of this conference that in the interest of this neighborhood, we all do it together with you, with our neighbors and with our allies who are eager and willing and capable.”

Hegseth elaborated on the shared heritage of countries in the Western Hemisphere as he made the case for defending it: “All the nations represented in this room are offsprings of Western civilization.

"Our nations are and always will be united by our heritage, our history and geography in this new world. We share the same interests, and because of this, we face an essential test: whether our nations will be and remain Western nations with distinct characteristics, Christian nations under God.”

Hegseth warned of the threat of nations in the Western Hemisphere getting “permanently torn apart by something else, led astray by competing forces.”

He identified “radical narcocommunism and anarchotyranny” as a major threat to Western civilization that threatens “our people, borders and sovereign lands in the name of a false sovereignty or a false peace.” 

“You too can and must go on the offense against narcoterrorists,” he declared. “Every partner in this region has to do more and invest more in your security as well. We, like you, want a hemisphere of sovereign, secure and prosperous nations.”