SOUTHCOM Announces New Military Campaign, Expanding Land Operations in Latin America - Left Voice
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The new Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere is a collaboration between U.S. imperialism and its right-wing allies to build up repressive forces throughout Latin America. It’s vital to deepen regional solidarity from the left and from the region’s working class.

The United States is once again escalating its presence in Latin America. On August 4, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) published a video announcing that it is transitioning from Joint Task Force-Southern Spear to Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM).

Beyond the jargon and aggrandizement typical of U.S. military announcements, what this essentially means is that the United States is going from violating Latin American sovereignty in the waters of the Caribbean to violating sovereignty by carrying out operations inland. A SOUTHCOM press release clarifies that 18 nations throughout the hemisphere will collaborate with the United States in this expansion of military operations.

Even as Trump continues to trap the United States in the Middle East, his administration has continued to advance its renewed Monroe Doctrine which aims to economically, politically, and militarily dominate Latin America.

As usual, the justification for the growing military presence is “drug trafficking” and “narco-terrorism.” But just like the war on drugs in the 1980s, this renewed war on drugs is really a pretext to build up regional repressive forces to suppress left-wing movements throughout the region. The shift to JTF-WHEM comes shortly after the release of the State Department’s McCarthyist report which paints a conspiracy theory that Cuba is orchestrating a grand campaign against the United States. This renewed red baiting was kicked off at a recent State Department Summit on Political Terrorism which brought representatives from 60 governments together, explicitly against “far-left extremism.”

Even before this latest escalation SOUTHCOM operations have killed over 200 people in its ongoing attack on boats in the Caribbean. To date, the White House has provided no evidence that any of the vessels it has attacked are engaged in drug trafficking, though even if such links could be proven, that would not justify the gross violation of sovereignty that the bombing campaign entails.

In fact, while JTF-WHEM will formalize a framework for ramping up land operations throughout Latin America, the U.S. military partnership with Daniel Noboa’s regime in Ecuador provides a preview of the wanton violence that can be expected. In March, military forces operating in Ecuador carried out attacks on an alleged cartel base. The attack crossed the border into Colombia and destroyed what turned out to be a civilian dairy farm.

History has also shown the worst of what partnerships between U.S. imperialism and subordinate right-wing governments look like. Throughout the 1970s the United States oversaw Operation Condor in which far-right dictatorships waged war on left-wing movements, labor organizations, and anyone generally seen as a threat to the regional interests of U.S. imperialism. These operations killed an estimated 60,000 people, though this is likely an undercount.

The growing U.S. bootprint in Latin America should be taken very seriously. But that also means seeing the possibilities to fight back. Unlike the 1970s, U.S. imperialism is in historic decline. Due to Trump’s humiliating war with Iran, the whole world has seen how the United States is unable to impose its interests through force alone.

Meanwhile, a closer look at political dynamics in Latin America shows that, while right-wing governments have been coming to power through elections, this does not mean that they’re able to consolidate power. The rebellion in Bolivia earlier this year demonstrated this point, showing how class struggle can erupt and challenge the agenda that the United States and its regional allies are attempting to push forward.

As the United States and its allies advance, threatening to scrap all pretexts of sovereignty and reign terror on left-wing movements in Latin America, the Left in the Western Hemisphere must deepen our own regional collaboration, linking every struggle against imperialism, austerity, and militarization. It is through this solidarity of workers throughout the region that we can defeat even the most powerful military and all its plans.

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