Peru is taking steps to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s Shield of the Americas initiative, its foreign minister said Friday, just days after conservative President Keiko Fujimori took office. Trump’s anti-cartel alliance is made up of pro-U.S. administrations across Latin America including the governments of Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador. Member states exchange information and coordinate judicial and security forces to address transnational criminal activity. Fujimori won Peru’s election on a promise to address soaring security concerns, and had already signalled a desire to join the alliance before taking office on Tuesday. “We will continue the progress achieved with... our incorporation into the Shield of the Americas,” Foreign Minister Carlos Espa said Friday at an event in Lima. “We will deepen our excellent relations with the United States, a strategic partner, ally and friend,” he added. Espa, who formerly worked in the U.S. embassy in Peru, also outlined plans to “strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries” to combat crime. International drug trafficking gangs are active in Peru, which is one of the world’s leading cocaine producers. Neighbouring Colombia -- the world’s top cocaine producer -- will also join Trump’s initiative once hard-right president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella takes office in August, he said earlier this month.
