AND: US Pressures Latin America to Triple Military Budget under the ‘Donroe Doctrine’

Featured image: AND’s photo collage of Colby and Múcio. Source: AND

A Nova Democracia (AND) reports on the pressure the US is putting on the Latin American countries to increase the military spending. The goal is to raise the budget up to 3.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to increase the use of the Armed Forces against, allegedly, the drug trafficking and organizations designated as “narco-terrorists” by US.

These demands were made by the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, during the XVII Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas held in Cusco, Peru.

According to State data, most Latin American countries spend between 1.2% and 1.3% of their GDP to military budget. Therefore, the US is requiring to triple the military budget in order to adjust it to the demands of the sole hegemonic superpower.

Colby stated that Washington’s new policy links regional security to drugs, violence, and migration – the so-called “transnational organized crimes.” According to Reuters, the Pentagon intends to carry out joint military operations against drug traffickers with governments considered “allies,” which means the most loyal lackeys. This policy is already being implemented in Ecuador, and organizations such as the Defense Front of the People’s Struggles – Ecuador have widely denounced this.

The US not only advocates for the investment into technical equipment such as intelligence systems, radars, drones, and cyber defense, but also demands that puppet governments protect “critical assets” against external factors. These factors include ports, telecommunications networks, critical minerals, energy facilities, maritime channels, and logistical structures—external factors referring to Chinese social imperialism.

The opportunistic Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio also participated in the meeting through its defense minister, José Múcio. According to AND, Múcio “attended the conference at which the new policy was presented, just over a month after the US designated the Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho as ‘terrorist’ organizations and while the US State Department was inviting the country to join an international alliance against the ‘resurgence of the far left’.”