The head of the diplomatic mission released a document on social media—signed by both countries on March 12—in which they pledge to deepen cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking.

  The text was released after Chilean Defense Minister Fernando Barros rejected—at a forum in Panama—White House demands that the nation increase military spending, participate in joint anti-drug operations, and withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

  Senator Manuel Jose Ossandon, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that he considers it unwise for the US ambassador to make a March document public at this time, as it could be interpreted as a form of pressure on Chile.

  Senator Iván Flores, of the Christian Democratic Party, expressed the view that the United States is undoubtedly exerting undue pressure for Chile to increase military spending and join a system mobilizing the armed forces of 18 Latin American countries.

  Last week, Deputy Gonzalo Winter of the *Frente Amplio* (Broad Front) coalition asked the Foreign Relations Committee to summon Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna to clarify the extent of Chile’s potential participation in the “Shield of the Americas.”

  This is a military structure established in Florida on March 26 during a summit convened by President Donald Trump, with the stated aim of combating drug trafficking, crime, terrorism, and other offenses.

  The “Shield” is one of the mechanisms intended to facilitate a revival of the Monroe Doctrine—a unilateral US policy of domination summarized by the phrase “America for the Americans.”

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