Donald Trump’s foreign policy regarding Latin America is clear and understandable – the militarization is deepening. Such a conclusion was drawn at the high-level meeting where the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador discussed the Latin America’s security with American and Mexican officials.
Under President Donald Trump, the militarization of U.S. foreign policy is about to stretch more deeply into Latin America. In the frame of the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America where attended Rex Tillerson, Mike Pence, and John F. Kelly, the director of Homeland Security and the previous head of SOUTHCOM.
Moreover, in 2016, the diplomats and the generals fought over control of the billions of dollars of US security assistance allocated each and every year. Surprising few, the Pentagon came out on top and with Trump’s election has been bolstered further.
Pentagon, Central America, and the US foreign policy in 2017
The militarization of U.S. foreign policy can be expected to further shift the balance of political power in Central America towards those nation’s militaries. Civilian governments are weak and fragile and, they still need more funds to support their economics. The coup in Honduras showed the reality – many Central America countries are still threatened by elite, economic and military one.
The deepening of the US militarization in Central America may be good for a few big corporations’ bottom lines, for the Pentagon’s relevance in the region, and for local security forces and their political chiefs. However, no need to forget that militarized approach never was useful in the solving the ongoing crises in Central America. Over the years of a Cold War, the military presence of the USSR in the countries satellites wasn’t too healing for the economic.
