US Naval Fleet to Be Positioned Off the Coast of South America [View All]

The news from the Pentagon that the US is re-establishing its Fourth Naval Fleet in the Caribbean, ostensibly to "build confidence and trust among nations through collective maritime security efforts" unfortunately shows that the days a US military threat to Latin America are far from over.

Furthermore, it underlines the need for the countries of Latin America to develop a new, independent military doctrine that replaces the US-backed and developed ‘National Security Doctrine’ which provided the rationale for so much terror and bloodshed throughout the region between the 1950s and 1990s, and which subordinated Latin American security interests to those of their northern neighbour. (The Fourth Fleet has not been used in the region since 1950.)

The re-establishment of the Fourth Fleet comes at a time when much of Latin America is emerging from under the imperial shadow, with Paraguay being the latest country to elect a left-wing leader. Paraguay joins a growing list of countries seeking an independent, more egalitarian and just path towards development, in direct contrast to the decades of US backed dictatorships and neoliberalism. This growing independence is a direct threat to North American domination of the region, traditionally seen as its strategic resource reserve and ‘backyard’.

The nuclear aircraft carrier-equipped US Navy fleet will provide an offshore base from which to observe, threaten, coordinate and possibly launch black operations. This is the role that similar naval groups have carried out in the past, in the Persian Gulf, against Nicaragua, and off the coasts of Brazil and Chile. They can also be rapidly expanded to provide air and logistical support for larger operations, such as the invasions of Grenada and Panama in 1983 and 1989 respectively. This is the reality that underlies the talk of ‘counter-narcotics operations’ and ‘cooperation with regional partners’ and it is the reality that the governments of Latin America must prepare for.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1283/1/