Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – On Tuesday, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader officially inaugurated the Americas Coalition Against Cartels (A3C) high-level conference, a two-day regional security summit running October 26 and 27 in the capital city that brings together defense and senior security representatives from 19 nations across the Western Hemisphere. The gathering is designed to forge far deeper collaborative frameworks to counter the growing threats of cross-border drug trafficking, narcoterrorism, and sprawling transnational criminal networks that have destabilized communities across the region. In his opening address, President Abinader stressed that the decentralized, border-hopping structure of modern criminal syndicates renders isolated, nation-level security responses effectively obsolete, making coordinated, cross-national action an urgent necessity. “If criminal actors organize their operations seamlessly across international lines, the response of sovereign states cannot remain fragmented and confined within individual national borders,” Abinader told assembled delegates. The Dominican head of state outlined core guiding principles for the coalition’s work, emphasizing that all regional security cooperation must be rooted in mutual respect, unwavering recognition of every participating nation’s national sovereignty, and full adherence to each country’s domestic legal frameworks. He further pushed back against narrow, enforcement-only approaches to long-term regional security, noting that durable, sustainable safety cannot be achieved through military and policing action alone. True lasting security, he argued, relies on investing in robust public institutions, accessible and fair judicial systems, widespread educational access, and inclusive economic opportunity that gives young people viable alternatives to recruitment by criminal networks. “Security creates the stable conditions needed for equitable development to flourish, but targeted, inclusive development in turn lays the foundational groundwork for long-term, self-sustaining security,” Abinader explained. Moving beyond symbolic statements of partnership, the president challenged attending delegations to translate prior non-binding memoranda and general agreements into tangible, actionable commitments, clearly delineated shared responsibilities, and quantifiable performance metrics to measure progress. He also called for the establishment of formal, regular evaluation mechanisms to track collective outcomes, identify gaps in coordination, and continuously refine joint operational strategies between member states. Abinader closed his remarks by reaffirming the Dominican Republic’s unwavering, long-term commitment to advancing collective regional security goals, and extended formal gratitude to U.S. Southern Command and all visiting national delegations for their active support and participation in the landmark summit. The 2024 A3C conference is centered on two core priority areas: building standardized, secure cross-border intelligence sharing protocols, and designing synchronized joint operational frameworks to target the leadership and revenue streams of major transnational criminal cartels operating across the Americas.
Abinader opens Americas Coalition Conference on regional fight against cartels
