Peru joins Shield of the Americas

Peru’s government has signed up to the US-led Shield of the Americas after a meeting in Lima between President Keiko Fujimori and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to El País, Rubio used the visit to confirm Peru’s entry into the initiative, pitched as a coordination mechanism against organized crime and drug trafficking across borders. The announcement came as Rubio wrapped a South America tour that also included stops in Colombia and Ecuador.

Peru’s decision adds another large coca-producing country to a project launched earlier this year by Washington, and it does so with the usual constitutional caveat: Fujimori said any entry of foreign troops would still require special authorization from Peru’s Congress. The Shield’s critics have focused on the gap between that formal safeguard and the practical reality of joint intelligence work, shared targeting priorities, and the quiet dependency that comes with external funding and equipment. Rubio’s public language in Lima was about “transnational terrorist organizations” operating across borders, a framing that tends to widen the menu of tools—surveillance, special operations cooperation, and expedited information-sharing—without resolving who ultimately sets thresholds for action.

The tour also made clear what Washington is selling: attention. Rubio argued that US administrations of both parties had neglected Latin America for more than two decades and said the Trump administration now intends to return repeatedly. For governments facing rising homicide rates and heavily networked trafficking groups, a high-level visit signals access to US agencies, training, and hardware. Ecuador, which Rubio praised as the most “aggressive” partner in the anti-trafficking push, is held up as the model: a country that accepts deeper operational cooperation in exchange for help against criminal groups that have outgrown domestic policing.

China’s response in Peru underlined the geopolitical subtext. El País reports that, hours before Rubio arrived, the Chinese embassy posted messages warning that the Western Hemisphere is no one’s “backyard,” while highlighting that Peruvians can travel visa-free to China—an ease of movement the United States does not offer. It is a small but legible contrast: Washington asks for security alignment and offers selective access; Beijing emphasizes commerce, travel, and non-interference rhetoric while building leverage through trade and infrastructure.

Peru’s entry brings the Shield to a larger footprint, but it also ties a new administration to a security architecture whose terms are defined abroad. The new partnership was announced from the Government Palace; the question of how it will be operationalized will be answered in intelligence channels that do not hold press conferences.