FEBRUARY 12, 2026 – Secretary of War Pete Hegseth today 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 Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and held in downtown Washington, the daylong, 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.
“To achieve these goals, we have to stand together; there’s no other way to do it,” he added.
Hegseth said the War Department, under the leadership of President Donald J. 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.
“It’s common sense: restoring American power and American strength in our hemisphere through shared priorities and common interests and threads with partners against our adversaries,” Hegseth said.
He went on to reiterate a core tenet of the Trump administration’s philosophy on homeland security: that, for far too long, the U.S. had focused on securing and defending other nations around the world while neglecting security within the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere.
“The consequences of this have been dire for our nation and for your nations; fentanyl, cocaine [and] other deadly drugs poured across our border, poisoning and killing millions of Americans. The number of deaths for Americans to those weapons and those threats is far higher than American casualties in any kinetic war,” Hegseth said, adding that illegal mass migration and human smuggling had risen exponentially in the years leading up to the U.S. closing its southern border last year.
Along with the residual benefits of closing the border — which Hegseth said include the biggest drop in illegal border crossings in the past 50 years, as well as a significant reduction in the U.S. murder rate — he also pointed out the successes that the U.S. military and law enforcement are having through the anti-narco-terror mission to the south, specifically with Operation Southern Spear.
Launched last year by U.S. Southern Command, Southern Spear is a joint U.S. military campaign aimed at disrupting drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, particularly by conducting lethal airstrikes against suspected traffickers.
“Operation Southern Spear has restored deterrence against the narco-terrorist cartels that profit from poisoning Americans and killing our people and your people,” Hegseth told the group, adding that the number of narco-terror boats in the region has diminished significantly since the U.S. strikes began in September 2025.
“Narco-traffickers know that the true cost of flooding our country with deadly drugs is death for themselves — a real deterrent,” he said.
Hegseth also pointed to the success of Operation Absolute Resolve, in which U.S. forces last month captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
“Operation Absolute Resolve demonstrated, once again, the bravery and skill and capability of America’s best: our warfighters,” he said.
As his remarks drew to a close, Hegseth underscored that Trump and his administration believe that sovereignty and territorial integrity depend upon military power, and not just traditional law enforcement.
“Yes, policing is important [and] enforcing is important, but military power is [also] important,” Hegseth said, adding that the countries represented during the day’s conference must work together to combat and dismantle narco-terrorism and drug trafficking cartels in the Western Hemisphere.
“We need to build those bonds of partnership to defeat the challenges to our security and our sovereignty,” he added. “So, as you might say, we can make the Americas great again.”
By Matthew Olay
Pentagon News