Recently, I attended an event featuring Ambassador Liliana Ayalde, the Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor to the United States Southern Command. The event was moderated by Ambassador Paul Trivelli, who was also once the Civilian Deputy to Southern Command.
Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is one of the ten unified combatant commands “responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation in its assigned Area of Responsibility which includes:
- Central America
- South America
- The Caribbean (except U.S. commonwealths, territories, and possessions)”
Ayalde mentioned two new threats facing Central and South America:
- Russian information campaigns fostering anti-US sentiment in the region
- Chinese expansion of political and economic influence
Ayalde also mentioned that US priorities in Central and South America have shifted from preventing drug trafficking to addressing transnational crime networks.
The primary subject of discussion was the crisis in Venezuela and resulting destabilization. The consensus among the ambassadors was that increased regional cooperation could ameliorate issues caused by emigration, but responsibility for the state of the Venezuelan economy lies largely with Maduro.
It should be noted that at no point did either ambassador acknowledge the United States’ role in destabilizing Central and South American governments. When discussing the pressing matter of Central American migrants, Trivelli asked, “Where have we gone wrong?” to which Ayalde responded with a remark about the danger posed by local gangs. This is a mischaracterization of past US involvement in the region. We cannot in good faith ask that question and not point to a long history of US intervention [1].
Mind you, I do not require these spokespeople for the government to break with established rhetoric and doctrine for a casual discussion. I do require that modern policy informers and makers honestly discuss the mistakes of the past in order to move forward successfully. It has been 64 years since US forces overthrew Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán in Guatemala. If we cannot accept culpability now, will we ever?
[1] For excellent reading on US involvement with regime change, see Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer (2006). I leave you with a quote from pg. 103.
No one can know what might have happened in Honduras if United States had never intervened there. Two facts, however, are indisputable. First, United States has been overwhelming force in Honduran life for more than a century. Second, Honduras today faces a nightmare of poverty, violence, and instability. Hondurans bear part of the blame for this heartrending situation but Americans cannot escape their share.
