Recent official statements

02/23/11
Latin America and the Caribbean
U.S. Policy

From various corners of the U.S. executive branch, here are a few recent documents with relevance for Latin America policy.

  • A February 17 State Department fact sheet lays out the U.S. government’s side of a noisy diplomatic dispute with Argentina over items aboard a U.S. military aircraft present in Buenos Aires for a police training exercise. Often, these State Department “fact sheets” are short on specifics and raise more questions than they answer. This one, however, goes over the disputed cargo in unusual detail (“Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), batteries, clothing, office supplies, coolers for beverages, folding chairs, candy”). Proponents of the Argentine position, particularly journalist Horacio Verbitsky, dispute some of the U.S. claims. Nonetheless, this level of clarity is welcome. It has helped to lower the tone and speculative nature of local media coverage. The document is a welcome departure from the U.S. government’s delayed and vague responses to earlier security-related diplomatic disputes in the region, such as the launch of the 4th Fleet (2008) and the negotiation of a defense cooperation agreement with Colombia (2009).

  • Deep inside a Defense Department briefing transcript, we learn that the Pentagon plans to use its mammoth budget to increase counter-drug assistance to Mexico’s security forces by US$20 to $30 million over current levels. Since current levels of Defense-budget aid to Mexico are about $34 million per year, this could potentially mean a doubling of aid through this account, at a time when U.S. military and police aid to Mexico through other, State Department-managed, accounts are decreasing.

  • Testimonies given last week by U.S. officials at two hearings about Latin America policy, all PDF files:

    • Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommitee on the Western Hemisphere, February 15. Key takeaway: a positive tone, except on Cuba and Venezuela, but few specifics. In 11 pages, the word “engagement” appears 10 times, the word “partnership(s)” 11 times, the word “institution(s)” 14 times, and the word “security” 18 times.
    • Valenzuela again, before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics, February 17.
    • Mark Feierstein, Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development, Senate, February 17. Key takeaway: “In Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID is confronting two transnational threats in particular”: gang/drug activity and climate change.
    • Robert Kaplan, President, Inter-American Foundation, Senate, February 17. Key takeaway: a strong case for the Foundation’s “small-scale, self-help, grassroots” development model. No mention of a 2012 budget request foreseeing a cut in the IAF budget to $19.1 million, from $23 million in 2010.
    • Frank Mora, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere, Senate, February 17. Key takeaway: Defense Cooperation Agreements and Bilateral Working Groups with defense ministries are vital to “the institutionalization of [defense] relationships” around the region.

  • The Southern Command’s website has posted ten releases so far in February about U.S. military exchanges with Colombia, mostly visits from Marines aboard two warships making port calls.