On September 10, 2026, during a high-profile visit by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Lima, Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori formally announced that her country would join the Shield of the Americas, a U.S.-led regional security bloc focused on intelligence sharing and coordinated military counter-narcotics operations against transnational drug cartels. Fujimori, a right-wing leader who took office following recent general elections, confirmed the decision after closed-door bilateral talks with Rubio at the Government Palace in Lima.
Fujimori emphasized that deepened security cooperation is a critical priority for her administration, which has struggled to contain rising violent crime and previously faced domestic insurgent threats. As a marker of the warming bilateral relationship, Rubio was awarded the Order of the Sun of Peru during his visit, one of the highest civilian honors bestowed by the Peruvian state.
Officially also named the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC), the alliance advocates for a robust military response to transnational criminal organizations, many of which currently wield greater firepower and resources than the national security forces of some Latin American states. Rubio framed the alliance as a defensive bulwark, describing it as a “shield against threats to national sovereignty” and stressing that decisive collective action is required to counter the growing power of cartel networks across the Western Hemisphere.
Peru holds the unenviable position of the world’s second-largest cocaine producer, behind only Colombia, and has seen a sharp uptick in organized crime in recent years, including widespread extortion rings linked to drug trafficking groups. However, the decision to deepen security ties with the U.S. has ignited widespread concern over the erosion of Peruvian and broader Latin American sovereignty, particularly given the long history of U.S. military and political intervention in the region and Washington’s history of backing controversial right-wing leaders.
During his public remarks in Lima, Rubio sought to ease these concerns, stating that all U.S. security operations within Peruvian territory would only proceed with the explicit approval of Peruvian national authorities. Even with these assurances, hundreds of protesters gathered in central Lima to demonstrate against the alliance, holding signs and chanting slogans calling for Rubio to leave the country and rejecting the Shield of the Americas initiative.
Beyond counter-narcotics cooperation, Peru’s accession to the alliance aligns with a broader U.S. geopolitical strategy to counter growing Chinese influence across Latin America. China is currently Peru’s largest bilateral trading partner, and has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across the country, most notably the megascale Chancay port project located just outside Lima — a development that U.S. policymakers have framed as a strategic threat to regional security and U.S. interests.
Peru occupies an outsize role in both U.S. security and economic strategy in the region, in large part due to its status as the world’s third-largest producer of copper, a critical mineral for global renewable energy and technology supply chains. Earlier this year in January, the U.S. designated Peru as a major non-NATO ally, a status that unlocks preferential defense cooperation and arms access, and approved a potential $1.5 billion arms deal to upgrade Peru’s main naval base at Callao, the country’s largest commercial port.