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Column 010212 Brewer

Monday, January 2, 2012 Vacillatory USA Policies and Diplomacy in Latin America By Jerry Brewer Recent elections in Latin America have demonstrated that short-term thinking has led to festering problems and issues being placed in trust, by vote, to leftleaning and dictatorial-like regimes. Regardless of the claims of election fraud that frequently ensue in controversial political races, rarely do they result in change. Critical elections in 2012 in Mexico and Venezuela, as well as the U.S., are undoubtedly going to take on greater importance within this hemisphere for the next decade or so. Effective U.S. policy and diplomatic engagement in Latin America must rise quickly from the smoldering ashes of complacency. Attacks on democratic elections, restrictions on political expression and debate, as well as voter intimidation and outright election fraud are rampant. Dictatorial and socialist agendas are continuing and manifesting in continued alterations of term limits and regimes seeking indefinite rule. The uneven pledge by the U.S., to employ and nurture solutions to critical issues within Latin America, has been guided less by strategy than by tactical response. Unfortunately, other dubious global

actors are taking a foothold in the region. Are we to believe that all of this change and opinion is simply anti-U.S. and capitalism, and to the betterment of Latin America as a whole? Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other nations within this hemisphere are not-so-willingly competing for the world's highest murder rates. Death appears to be a subject largely disregarded in our culture of the living these days. Of course, a personal tragic loss or the sensational media coverage of a murder or accident grasps our attention; at least until our own personal psyche finds a way to file it away in our own rationalized comfort zone. To those of us who have, and have had, the awesome responsibility of investigating death for cause and culpability, it takes on a very complex rationale. Too, death by violence and homicide, especially throughout the Americas, brings the morbid details closer to home on a daily basis. Murders throughout Mexico, along with associated violence, continue to fuel the numbers of victims that become statistics for reporting purposes. The irony of such staggering numbers related to death by criminal acts, and the consistent reporting of far fewer U.S. war deaths, is worthy of contrast and comparison. Does this level of violence, death, and related atrocities rise to the level of needed military intervention? Pragmatism and limited authority might seem like a useful combination in diplomacy, but surprisingly they do not mix. Reactive diplomacy and improvisa-

tion require hands-on direction from senior political leaders who often have little time to become involved. It is not to say that the U.S. must solve the region's problems. The people and leaders should bear the burden of making their own choices, reaping the benefits of good ones and learning from the bad. But the U.S. can be more consistent in cultivating relations that serve our own interests as well as those of our neighbors. To crush or break off potential future problems, the U.S. should have a comprehensive strategic plan of engagement, practice hands-on diplomacy, and nurture enduring partnerships. Former President Ronald Reagan's strategies had political, military, economic, labor, diplomatic, and multilateral tracks. He worked diligently in explaining the administration's policy, although his approach generated some controversy. Many sympathized with the communist insurgents in Latin America, a few with once-friendly right-wing dictators, "while most were skeptical of the middle ground of promoting democracy in a region that had not known it." Venezuela's Hugo Chavez became a radical change agent for his Latin American neighbors. He inherited Fidel Castro's sword of anti-U.S. imperialist rhetoric, squandering Venezuela's massive wealth to draw those unscrupulous left-leaning neighbors into his realm of thinking and circle of influence. As well, the new Venezuela-Iran alliance has culminated in many Latin American nations lining up to support the Palestinians, and they are adamant about

how Israel should be acting. Iran's footprint in Latin America has grown gradually. Beginning in the 1980s, Iran started using Latin America as a forward base of operations against the U.S. and the West. "It deployed Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guards' operatives, and other intelligence and terror assets, along the largely ungoverned tri-border area between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil." That staging ground in turn enabled Iranian agents to bomb Israeli and Jewish targets in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s. Moreover, there is what is described as the "Cubanization of Venezuela." Chavez was quoted as saying, "I tell you, speaking from the heart, I feel like a Cuban now. I feel like I'm one more Cuban." That greeting, to a Cuban medical team freshly arrived in Caracas, came on the heels of retired Venezuelan Army Gen. Antonio Rivero announcing that he resigned from the service primarily because of "the presence and meddling of Cuban soldiers." A sustained U.S. commitment is essential in order to help to assure Latin America's stability and continued peaceful, democratic development. A commitment that is most certainly in our national interest. ---------Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global threat mitigation firm headquartered in northern Virginia. His website is located at http://www.cjiausa.org/. Twitter:

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