{"id":55201,"date":"2019-07-10T16:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T16:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/10\/4-star-ship-deployments-more-high-level-exercises-could-help-stabilize-latin-america\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:43:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:43:03","slug":"4-star-ship-deployments-more-high-level-exercises-could-help-stabilize-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/07\/10\/4-star-ship-deployments-more-high-level-exercises-could-help-stabilize-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"4-star: Ship deployments, more high-level exercises could help stabilize Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you think \u201cgreat power competition<\/a>,” you probably think Russia and China in Eastern Europe<\/a> and the Pacific. But both of those countries are meddling in South America, U.S. Southern Command\u2019s chief told lawmakers on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More funding to SOUTHCOM<\/a> could not only help with U.S. presence there, but strengthen partner countries against rampant corruption, said Adm. Craig Faller. It was part of his testimony before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing by the subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities, making the case for funding in the next National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corruption is the \u201cNo. 1 security threat we face in this hemisphere,\u201d he said, adding that those conditions are prime for Russia to undermine Latin Americans\u2019 faith in democracy, while China continues to make predatory loans to those citizens that will never be paid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk takes off with Honduran soldiers and their equipment, Nov. 5, 2015, in the Gracias a Dios department (state) of Honduras as other soldiers await transport to forward operating posts in the area. The helicopters, assigned to the 1-228th Aviation Regiment at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, fulfilled a Honduran military request for airlift to aid in their freedom of movement in the area, helping them to combat drug trafficking and related criminal activities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Christopher J. Mesnard\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That corruption is widespread, according to news reports and research over previous decades. Last year, the Peruvian president resigned to avoid an impeachment hearing on vote-buying. More than a dozen countries were implicated in Brazil\u2019s Operation Car Wash, a money laundering network that paid bribes to politicians. And at the individual level, just opening a small business might involve several bribes to public officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Pentagon\u2019s National Defense Strategy, published in 2018, puts special focus on near-peer threats, one senator argued that in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, it\u2019s corruption that is making the region a threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCorruption is the root cause of mass migration, instability and impunity in Central America, and the trafficking of illicit narcotics into our country,\u201d subcommittee ranking member Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said. \u201cUnless our strategy focuses on solving the root causes of corruption, then no amount of security assistance dollars to Latin American partners will be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t