The term “Shield of the Americas” that was chosen not just for the event, but the initiative suggests protection and resolve. Moreover, contrary to the claims of the Trump administration, the “Shield of the Americas” is not a policy innovation. The Shield initiative thus operates simultaneously as a counter-narcotics framework and a U.S.-driven mechanism for reasserting regional influence. China is now Latin America’s largest lender and trading partner. And that is a policy target which the Shield of the Americas, as currently constituted, is unequipped to prosecute.