SouthCom

APEC Summit Brings More US Troops To Perú Amid National Strike

November 7, 2024 Clau O'Brien Moscoso, Black Agenda Report. Educate! APEC, Militarization, Peru, SouthCom

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Perú 2024, the annual meeting of the APEC Forum leaders, will be held from 10 to 16 November 2024 in various parts of the country. Among the confirmed attendees is Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , but noticeable absentees include Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, in what would be days after the US elections. APEC brings together 21 different countries in the Asia Pacific to “promote free trade” through the region, but only 11 have confirmed attendance, according to La Republica.

Perú Grapples With Violence As SOUTHCOM Expands

October 16, 2024 Clau O'Brien Moscoso, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Dina Boluarte, militarism, NATO, organized crime, Peru, SouthCom

Nearly two years after the US-backed parliamentary coup that ousted President Pedro Castillo, a wave of extortions, assassinations and a crime spree has rocked the cities of Lima and Callao, among others. At least nine deaths have been reported in just a few days leading up to the national strike called by the Unión de Gremios de Transporte Multimodal del Perú, the national syndicate that brings together different transport workers unions (from mototaxistas to bus drivers) under one formation. Gangs, or perhaps more accurately named armed paramilitary groups, have specifically targeted popular working class neighborhoods, such as Puenta Piedra and Los Olivos, and have left multiple transport workers dead from not paying extortion fees.

Colombian Social Movements Reject US-Colombia Military Exercises In Pacific

July 2, 2024 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. Resist! Colombia, Haiti, Latin America, Military Exercises, SouthCom, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

The Colombian political and social movement the People’s Congress (Congreso de los Pueblos), which brings together dozens of social organizations across sectors and regions of the country, categorically rejected the joint US-Colombia military drills as part of the US Southern Command’s “Southern Seas 2024” operation. Joint exercises between the US Marines and the Colombian Navy took place from June 29-30, 2024, off the coast of the Cauca Valley in Colombia. There were five coordinated exercises and practices between the two armed forces in the Pacific Ocean. Notably, the US aircraft carrier USS George Washington (one of the largest in the world) was present, which can carry 75 military aircraft and 5,000 people on board, and fire nuclear weapons.

US Militarization Is A Threat To Peace

May 29, 2024 A.T. Freeman, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Caribbean, Military Exercises, SouthCom, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

From 4-16 May, the 39th annual Tradewinds military exercise took place in Barbados, co-hosted by the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) and the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). This year’s exercise, dubbed Tradewinds 2024, involved more than 1600 military personnel from 26 participating countries plus representation from various regional organisations. In addition to the USA, which led the exercise, participants came from mostly Caribbean countries except Cuba; the old European colonial powers of the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands; Canada and the Latin American countries of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico.

SOUTHCOM Chief: United States Has A ‘5-Year Plan’ For Ecuador

January 26, 2024 Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Ecuador, gang violence, Lithium, SouthCom, US Imperialism

The commander of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), General Laura Richardson, stated that the United States has a “five-year plan” in terms of security for Ecuador. “There are several things that we have done very recently with Ecuador,” General Richardson said in an interview with the Ecuadorian media Primicius on Tuesday, January 23. “For example, we have the Security Assistance Roadmap, called ESAR, with Ecuador. There is only one other country in the region with which we have signed this roadmap.” According to Richardson, the ESAR is a five-year plan that outlines “cooperation in security matters,” and it includes a binational working group to facilitate the exchange “between the Pentagon and Ecuador.”

Why Is The US Rushing To Form A Force To Intervene In Haiti?

August 24, 2023 Narciso Isa Conde, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Haiti, Military Intervention, SouthCom, US Imperialism

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was necessary to send a "multinational force" to Haiti, precisely one day before the UN Security Council session and following the recent Caribbean (CARICOM) summit. At that meeting of the 15 States of the Caribbean subregion, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called for accelerating the new aggression against the Haitian people. This happened just as Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, is recriminating the passivity of the so-called "international community" supervised by the United States and the Allied Powers; urging them to "move from words to deeds" and to intervene militarily as soon as possible.

NATO In The Amazon: Petro Plays With Fire

October 27, 2022 Roger D. Harris, Popular Resistance. Educate! Amazon Rainforest, Colombia, Gustavo Petro, NATO, SouthCom

NATO recently expanded to Sweden and Finland, has been de facto incorporated in Ukraine, and may extend to Georgia. Now, NATO’s entry into the Amazon is in the works under the aegis of newly elected President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. NATO is a primary instrument of US imperial dominion. It is Washington’s praetorian guard projected on a global scale. Earlier this month, President Petro invited US and NATO military forces into the Amazon on the pretext that the imperial war machine could be repurposed as “police” aimed at protecting the environment instead of the old ruse of the war on drugs. He proposed deployment of US Black Hawk helicopters to put out fires. Previous to the environmental alibi, the pretext for militarization of the jungle was narcotics interdiction. Petro described his “conversation with NATO” as “strange,” but hastened to add “that’s where we are.”

SouthCom Warships Sailing Near Venezuelan Shores

July 19, 2020 Orinoco Tribune. Educate! SouthCom, US Regime Change, Venezuela, Wars and Militarism

The United States Navy (US) sailed into Venezuelan waters, “to challenge the excessive claim of Venezuela on June 23”, when the Minister of Popular Power for Defense, G / J Vladimir Padrino López , warned that a US ship entered 30 miles north of the Venezuelan coasts, calling the event a threat. According to US military forces, the “Freedom of Navigation” operation in the Caribbean Sea is being carried out “outside 12 nautical miles off the Venezuelan coast.” However, the ship sailed through an area that according to international law belongs to Venezuela. According to the Venezuelan Organic Law of Aquatic Spaces, the territorial sea has a width of twelve nautical miles (12 MN) along the continental and insular coasts of Venezuela, and additionally 12 more NM for the Contiguous Zone. International law also establishes 200 NM of Exclusive Economic Waters. Article 16 of this norm establishes that the passage of a ship through jurisdictional waters ceases to be “innocent” when the foreign ship makes threats or uses force against the sovereignty of Venezuela or violates the principles of Internal and International Law set forth in the UN Charter.

SouthCom Boosts US Military Presence In Latin America

April 3, 2020 Ben Norton, The Grayzone. Educate! Brazil, Latin America, SouthCom, Wars and Militarism

The Donald Trump administration has ramped up US interventionism in Latin America, overseeing a far-right military coup in Bolivia and backing coup attempts against the leftist governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua. Against the backdrop of regime-change operations, the United States Southern Command has announced a massive expansion of its military presence in the region. Brazil will play an anchoring role in the new arrangement, embracing its new role as an extension of Pax Americana under the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro. In recent months, Brazil has been designated a “major non-NATO ally” and signed a historic agreement incorporating its domestic defense industry into a Pentagon funding and research program.

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