LatAm in Focus: The Shield of the Americas Cracks Open a Debate in Chile

In September, the government of President José Antonio Kast of Chile set off a political firestorm at home when it opted to join the Shield of the Americas, an initiative launched by the Trump administration in March. Opposition legislators questioned the legal implications of membership while ex-presidents Gabriel Boric (2022–2026) and Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010, 2014–2018) issued a joint open letter asking the government to “reconsider” its participation in the security-focused hemispheric partnership. The Chilean general public is proving to have doubts as well; an October poll showed that just 31 percent approved of the decision to sign on to the Shield. But why would signing on to a security initiative stir such controversy? After all, voters concerned about crime helped propel Kast into office earlier this year, much as mano dura security pledges have given rise to a wave of right-wing wins across the Americas. That’s led to regional ideological alignment, leading 15 countries to join the initiative.

“Chile has a long tradition where foreign affairs are regularly treated as a national interest dynamic, so you normally seek consensus,” says Diego Sazo, head of international relations research at AthenaLab, a Santiago-based think tank focused on security and defense. The Shield’s ad and hoc nature, Sazo tells AS/COA’s Carin Zissis, means that member countries can skip the congressional ratification process that would accompany an international treaty. As such, the Kast administration was able to bypass winning over opposition support.  

With the Shield recently broadening its initial security focus to include economic and political cooperation in defense of “hemispheric sovereignty,” Sazo explores how Chile is trying to protect its commercial relationship with China, a top buyer of the country’s critical minerals and a U.S. trade rival.  

He also outlines what an initiative like the Shield offers the Americas and how it can outlast swings in the region’s electoral pendulum: “It's a kind of Sisyphus mythos where you keep pushing this big stone to create an outcome, but then after a while, you have to start from the beginning. So my main advice is to try to move from a government deal to a more state[-led] approach.”