hemispheric militarization

The Andes

Trump officials push Venezuela regime change

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced that he is ready to declare a state of emergency in response to aggression by the United States. Such a declaration would give the army control over public services and the country’s oil industry, which Venezuelan leaders say the US is preparing to grab. US officials, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe, are reported to be pushing plans to overthrow Maduro. The US has increased its naval presence in the Caribbean and launched repeated deadly strikes on civilian vessels in international waters off Venezuela. President Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the vessels were carrying drug traffickers. Rubio recently described Maduro as a “fugitive from American justice” who leads a terrorist and criminal organization bringing narcotics into the US, posing an “imminent, immediate threat.” (Image: Grunge Love via Flickr)

The Andes

Popular protests turn deadly in Ecuador

Widespread protests in Ecuador, sparked by cuts to fuel subsidies, reached a boiling point, as an indigenous land defender was killed by the armed forces, a government aid convoy was reportedly attacked by protesters, and 12 soldiers went missing. Meanwhile, the government continued to advance its plan to rewrite the constitution—an initiative that has further intensified public anger. Undeterred, the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), which initiated the nationwide strike, announced that it would extend the action. (Photo: CONAIE via Peoples Dispatch)

The Caribbean

US destroyers menace Venezuela

Three US Aegis guided-missile destroyers have been dispatched to waters off the coast of Venezuela, as part of what the Trump administration calls an effort to counter threats from Latin American drug cartels. The mobilization follows Washington’s decision to increase the bounty for the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, doubling it to an unprecedented $50 million. In response to the increased US military presence in the Caribbean, President Maduro announced plans to mobilize 4.5 million members of the territorial militia across the country. “Rifles and missiles for the rural forces! To defend Venezuela’s territory, sovereignty and peace,” he proclaimed. (Photo: US Navy via Latin America Reports)

The Caribbean

US mercenaries to fight gangs in Haiti

The US indicted Jimmy Chérizier AKA “Barbecue,” leader of the gang coalition in control of most of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Chérizier and an alleged stateside collaborator, Bazile Richardson, are charged with sanctions violations related to arms sales. Meanwhile, private military contractor and Trump ally Erik Prince told Reuters he has signed a 10-year deal with the Haitian government to fight armed groups and help collect taxes—a move some observers fear could further weaken the Haitian security forces and lead to rights violations. Prince’s new security firm, Vectus Global, has been operating in Haiti since March. (Photo: Haiti Liberte)

Central America

US-Panama deal to shut down Darién Gap migration route

Immediately upon taking office, Panama’s new President José Raúl Mulino struck a deal with the United States to shut down the migration route through the Darién Gap, which sees thousands annually making the perilous jungle trek while seeking to reach North America. The US has committed to cover the cost of repatriation of migrants who illegally enter Panama and to deploy Homeland Security teams on the route. Last year, a record 520,000 migrants risked their lives, often at the hands of human traffickers, to traverse the Darién Gap, an expanse of roadless jungle stretching some 100 kilometers from Panama’s border with Colombia. (Photo: David González/TNH)

The Andes

Peru: opposition protests US troop deployment

Peru’s Congress voted to approve Legislative Resolution 4766, authorizing US troops to be stationed on the national territory from June 1 to Dec. 31. Lima lawmaker Alfredo Azurín, president of the Commission on National Defense, Internal Order & Anti-Drug Struggle, said the soldiers will carry out training missions and joint exercises with Peru’s armed forces and National Police. The vote was harshly condemned by former foreign minister Héctor Béjar, who said the estimated 700 US troops will be disposed to support operations by the security forces against Peru’s social movements, now preparing a new mobilization: “It is obvious that the presence of these soldiers is a deterrent, part of a policy of intimidation of the Peruvian people, who have announced new protests for next July.” (Photo: IndymediaArgentina)

The Amazon

Protests as US troop mission approved for Peru

Peru’s Congress, at the behest of President Pedro Castillo’s government, voted to approve the entry of US military troops for participation in anti-drug and anti-terrorism operations. But the vote was protested by voices within Castillo’s own Partido Perú Libre (PPL), with legislator Kelly Portalatino calling it a “sign of submission.” Previous such US troop missions have seen operations in the Valley of the Apurímac and Ene Rivers (VRAE), a key coca cultivation zone. Campesinos of the VRAE Federation of Agrarian Producers (FEPAVRAE) have just announced a region-wide indefinite paro (civil strike) in protest of ongoing government coca-eradication campaigns. (Photo: F EPAVRAE)

The Andes

Colombia joins ‘new partnership’ with NATO

President Joe Biden issued an executive order designating Colombia a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) of the United States. The designation facilitates further weapons transfers from the US to Colombia, and increased military cooperation between the two countries. Colombia is the third MNNA in Latin America, after Brazil and Argentina. Weeks earlier, a delegation of NATO staff visited Colombia to discuss the South American country’s participation in the alliance’s Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP). Colombia became NATO’s newest “global partner” in 2018, but this relationship was reinforced last December, when it became a member of the NATO Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP). (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Central America

Honduras transition in the New Cold War

Hondurans elected self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” Xiomara Castro to be the country’s first woman president. The wife of Manuel Zelaya, the populist president who was removed in a coup in 2009, Castro pledges to revive his program—and take it much further, instating far-reaching reforms. Castro also announced that she will “open diplomatic and commercial relations with continental China,” which was widely taken as meaning a switch of diplomatic recognition. Honduras is currently one of only 14 countries that recognize Taipei rather than Beijing. It is tragic to see the Central American republics, in their struggle to break free of Washington’s orbit, acquiesce in Beijing’s design to incorporate Taiwan into its own orbit—or, more ambitiously, its national territory. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Mexico

Mexico: narco-dystopia amid Trump-AMLO schmooze

Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador met with Trump at the White House to inaugurate the new trade treaty that replaces NAFTA. Embarrassingly, the meeting was punctuated by horrific new outbursts of narco-violence in Mexico. And the country’s promised cannabis legalization—mandated by the high court and looked to as a de-escalation of the dystopian drug war—is stalled by a paralyzed Congress. (Photo: Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana)

The Andes

Colombia: court orders suspension of US military ops

In an unprecedented move, a Colombian judge gave President Ivan Duque 48 hours to suspend the participation of US troops in counternarcotics operations. The legal challenge was brought after 53 soldiers from the Pentagon’s Southern Command arrived as part of a “Security Force Assistance Brigade.” When opposition lawmakers protested that they had not been consulted, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told Congress he didn’t need their permission. Left-opposition Sen. Ivan Cepeda responded by taking the matter to the Cundinamarca Administrative Tribunal. The judge ruled that if Trujillo wants the US troops to continue their operations he must either receive permission from Congress or successfully appeal the ruling within 72 hours. (Photo via Colombia Reports)

The Andes

US ‘committed’ to ‘dismantle’ Colombia’s ELN

The United States government is “committed” to “dismantle” Colombia’s remaining significant guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), federal prosecutor Zachary Terwilliger said. The US attorney for the Eastern District of Virgina made the comment after he and six other federal prosecutors met with President Ivan Duque on a visit to Bogotá to discuss cooperation “to fight narco-terrorism.” Terwilliger said the Colombian government “counts on the full support of the United States Department of Justice in the common cause to destabilize, decimate and ultimately dismantle the ELN.” The guerilla group has been active since 1964 and is currently believed to have 4,000 fighters. The ELN was engaged in peace talks with Duque’s predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos, but the talks were suspended by Duque when he took office a year ago. (Photo: Colombia Reports)