The U.S. Military's Deceptive Role in Latin America
SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Laura Richardson's interview with the Atlantic Council reveals the U.S. Military's view of Latin America as a pawn in their quest for global dominance.
I've recently begun looking through the literature of prominent think tanks. They contain a wealth of information, and if you spend enough time sifting through the dirt, you inevitably come across a nugget of gold. The Atlantic Council's interview with General Laura Richardson is one of those nuggets. General Richardson is a four-star general and the commander of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees security for Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. This means that General Richardson is responsible for places such as the Panama Canal and Guantanamo Bay.
The US military is concerned about the increasing Eastern influence in Latin America. "We are very much in strategic competition in the Western Hemisphere," she said, pointing out the region's vulnerabilities such as high levels of poverty (170 million people), the consequences of the COVID pandemic, as well as illegal fishing and farming. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that the United States has a long history of imposing trade policies that ensure their global control of a multitude of industries. This is not to mention the dubious actions of international "health" organizations promoting damaging and entirely disingenuous information regarding COVID.
General Richardson claimed that Latin American countries are on "Team Democracy," which is a bit of a silly concept. We are talking about real-life issues that affect real people, not a World Cup match.
General Richardson's comments about China and Russia are a bit puzzling. Why is she so concerned about Chinese infrastructure projects and Huawei's involvement in Latin America? Is it because the US is worried about losing its grip on the region? Huawei provides internet infrastructure for over 24 Latin American countries, but it isn't obvious how this threatens US security, if it does at all. Concern over the existence of Russian military equipment in Latin America was similarly expressed without explaining the specific threat it presents, especially since it is on such a small scale. I find it interesting that she also recommended Latin American countries donate this equipment to Ukraine.
“…there is a total of nine [countries] that have Russian [military] equipment in them and we’re working to replace that Russian equipment with United States equipment if those countries want to donate it to Ukraine…”
General Richardson commands an Area of Responsibility that is home to over 850 million people. It's impressive that the SOUTHCOM joint command is prepared to exert US influence over so many people at "the speed of relevance." However, the difficulty in exercising American influence in the regimes of Latin America is not just because they have term limits, but also because the United States has a history of propping up and supporting dictators who are friendly to their interests. It's hard to talk about "Team Democracy" when the US has a track record of toppling democratically elected leaders who don't do their bidding.
Rather than defending democratic values around the world like an unelected superhero, the real interest of the United States is more likely to be maintaining the ability to influence the trade of Latin America's vast amount of natural resources. This is evidenced by Gen. Richardson's long list of specific valuable resources in Central and South America that the US wants to keep China from controlling. It almost sounded as if she were reading a child's Christmas list. The fact is, the US is just trying to find ways to justify its own military presence in the region and maintain its control over Latin American countries. However, the global geopolitical order is shifting as nations decide it is long overdue for countries to handle their own affairs.
-The Shultz Report by M. Shultz