{"id":5159,"date":"2017-04-10T19:23:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T23:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2017-12-16T12:19:10","modified_gmt":"2017-12-16T17:19:10","slug":"america-needs-a-secure-latin-american-caribbean-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=5159","title":{"rendered":"America Needs a Secure Latin American & Caribbean Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Latin America and the Caribbean<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>according to<\/span> World Politics Review,<\/span><\/i> are currently <\/span>facing<\/span><\/a> security challenges that could prove troubling in the coming months to U.S. policymakers and their counterparts in the region. Latin America\u2019s geographic proximity, economic, and human ties affect U.S. security and prosperity more than those of any other region in the world. As the Trump administration forms its Latin America policy team, the <\/span>Encouvue<\/span><\/i> reports<\/span><\/a> that there will be a range of issues that demand the team\u2019s attention in the region sooner rather than later. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Mexico, crimes including extortion and kidnapping, have been on the rise at both the state and federal levels in recent years. The <\/span>International Crisis <\/span>Group<\/span><\/a> (ICG), in its February 2017 <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> on Veracruz, a southeastern Mexican state, wrote \u201cthe recent history of Veracruz, the gruesome details of which are starting to emerge, underlines the crisis not of one state administration but of the Mexican political system as a whole, where a well-intended democratic transition has fallen short of expectations and become corroded by organized crime.\u201d ICG <\/span>called<\/span> on the United States and other governments to increase pressure on Mexican leaders to address root causes of the nation\u2019s organized crime epidemic and refocus strategies for resolving the crisis. Increasing crime in Mexico could sprain efforts to secure the U.S. border and manage the challenge of transnational criminal organizations operating on both sides of the border. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Central America\u2019s Northern Triangle region\u2014El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala\u2014an expanded wave of gang violence, prompted in part by U.S. deportations, has driven a<\/span> <\/span>regional migrant <\/span>crisis<\/span> <\/span><\/a>that could escalate. Venezuela\u2019s government, which has overseen the country\u2019s descent into political and economic <\/span>crisis<\/span><\/a>, is increasing cooperation with Iran, China, and Russia. At the same time, Cuba, having lost Venezuela as its principal economic beneficiary, could potentially expand relations with Russia and China if U.S. president Donald Trump undercuts Cuba\u2019s hopes for access to U.S. markets. In Colombia, where drug production is mounting, a historic peace deal with guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is inadvertently leading to the emergence and expansion of new criminal gangs and guerrillas tied to the National Liberation Army (ELN), another armed group. <\/span><\/p>\n

Latin America\u2019s crime and violence extends beyond drug related issues. <\/span>Judicial Watch<\/span><\/i> in January 2016<\/span> published<\/span><\/a> State Department <\/span>records<\/span><\/a> confirming that \u201cArab <\/span>extremists\u201d are entering the United States through Mexico with the assistance of smuggling network \u201ccells.\u201d Among them was a top Al-Qaeda operative wanted by the FBI. The government documents also reveal that some Mexican smuggling networks actually specialize in providing logistical support for islamists attempting to enter the United States. <\/span>\u201cThe security environment in Latin America and the Caribbean is characterized by complex, diverse, and non-traditional challenges to U.S. interests,\u201d Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, Commander U.S. Southern Command <\/span>testified<\/span><\/a> before the <\/span>Senate Armed Services Committee<\/span><\/a> in March 2016. \u201cThe principal challenge remains transnational criminal networks, which are well-organized, well-financed, well-armed, and technologically advanced. These networks are efficient, adaptive, innovative and exceptionally ruthless,\u201d he added. <\/span><\/p>\n

The economic vulnerability of the region in the face of a retreating United States may force it to form closer ties with China. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe theft of American prosperity will end,\u201d President Trump said in March at the signing of <\/span>two bills<\/span><\/a> aimed at \u201cending the abuse of U.S. trade\u201d as promised during the 2016 presidential election. \u201cWe\u2019re going to defend our industry and create a level playing field for the American worker,\u201d he added. <\/span><\/p>\n

Leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean view President Trump\u2019s stance as casting a cloud of unpredictability on the region\u2019s economy just as it tries to rebound from a two-year contraction. As the U.S. withdraws from the region through protectionist rhetoric and policies of the current administration, like <\/span>abandoning<\/span><\/a> the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); China, the second-largest commercial partner of the region and its highest <\/span>lender<\/span><\/a>, may take on the United States\u2019 economic position in Latin America.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the election of President Trump in November 2016, China released a<\/span> policy paper<\/span><\/a> on Latin America and the Caribbean, where the region was called \u201ca land full of vitality and hope.\u201d The paper stated that China would build a new relationship with the region to achieve \u201csincerity and mutual trust in the political field, win-win cooperation on the economic front, mutual learning in culture, close coordination in international affairs, as well as mutual reinforcement between China’s cooperation with the region as a whole and its bilateral relations with individual countries in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latin America and the Caribbean, according to World Politics Review, are currently facing security challenges that could prove troubling in the coming months to U.S. policymakers and their counterparts in the region. Latin America\u2019s geographic proximity, economic, and human ties affect U.S. security and prosperity more than those of any other region in the world.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":5160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5161,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions\/5161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}