President Donald Trump said that a dozen Latin American nations had enlisted in a US-led coalition to fight cartels in the region. 

Trump announced the new military organization, along with Latin American leaders, at his Doral resort in Florida on Saturday. The coalition was dubbed Shield of the Americas, and includes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guayana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.

On Friday, the US conducted joint operations with Ecuador. Department of War Spokesman Sean Parnell said that US soldiers worked with the Ecuadorian military to take down a drug-smuggling facility. It is unclear if there were casualties. 

The new coalition follows months of US unilateral military operations in the Caribbean and  Eastern Pacific against alleged cartel drug boats. The US has destroyed dozens of vessels, killing over 150 people. 

Additionally, Trump ordered an attack on Venezuela that led to the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro. During the ceremony to unveil the Shield of the Americas, Trump suggested he wanted regime change in Cuba. 

He said the US will “soon be coming to Cuba,” adding that the government in Havana was “very much at the end of the line.”

The Trump administration has sought to step up US military activity in the Western Hemisphere. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the region is viewed by the White House as Greater North America.