WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called on defense chiefs and other senior military leaders from 34 Western Hemisphere countries to unite in deterrence against bad actors who may already be operating in, or working to encroach upon the region.
Convened by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Washington, the first-of-its-kind Western Hemisphere Chiefs of Defense Conference focused on regional security cooperation against narco-terrorism and other criminal enterprises throughout the hemisphere, while also analyzing common security priorities between allies and partner nations.
While delivering prepared remarks at the meeting's outset, Hegseth said the U.S. - like all countries represented at the conference - desires a hemisphere of peace, which is why all those countries must work together to achieve and preserve it.
'We, like you, want - and will - achieve a permanent peace in this hemisphere. So, let's work together [with] our militaries: exercising, training, operations, [intelligence], access, basing, overflight, you name it - let's work together,' Hegseth told the gathered leaders.
Hegseth said the Defense Department, under the leadership of President Donald Trump and his administration, is prioritizing protecting the homeland and key territories throughout the hemisphere for the first time in decades.
'The United States is asserting, reestablishing and enforcing the Trump corollary of the Monroe Doctrine,' Hegseth explained.
Issued in 1823 by President James Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine declared that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to any new attempts at colonization by European nations, and that any interference by those powers would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States.
Reciprocally, the U.S. pledged not to interfere with any of Europe's internal affairs and not meddle in any of Europe's colonial affairs.
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