PRESERVING U.S. INTERESTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Traditionally, Latin America has been politically weak and economically disadvantaged, whereas; the U.S. has prospered. The U.S. has traded and invested in Latin America despite concerns regarding its weakness. The U.S. has created policies to bolster the economic climate and political stability in Latin America without success. However, the bigger question is determining if these policies and initiatives were created to protect financial and political U.S. interests or as means of creating viable trade partners. These chapters will exemplify several policies and initiatives that have been unsuccessful in the areas of national security, energy security, and instilling democratization strategies. Many of these implemented policies were developed to remedy an immediate threat but not an overarching strategy for long-term change. Also, for the most part, many of these strategies were imposed on Latin America without a cooperative agreement for change. Each of these three chapters presents issues that began in Latin America and have impacted the U.S. The first chapter presents information regarding drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and their role as a major national security issue for the U.S. Historically, DTOs have begun in states with weak rule of law and oversight. The hypothesis states that DTOs are able to destabilize their states of origin through recruitment and corruption efforts to expand their empire. Once Plan Colombia was instituted in Colombia, drug cartels used Mexican drug organizations to create a network to transport their product to the U.S. As a result, many Mexican/Colombian drug cartel networks have become an international threat. There is evidence that Mexican drug cartels are heavily involved in expanding their empire using recruitment and corruption as a means of expanding their network into the U.S. The current policies in place have not had an impact on cartel activity within the U.S. The second chapter explores the threats stemming from Latin America in the energy security sector. Both Colombia and Venezuela were chosen as the case studies because they are the fourth and fifth biggest petroleum exporters to the U.S. with civil unrest issues. The hypothesis states that resource abundant states with threats of prolonged civil unrest could hinder oil production. The U.S. depends on these exports to sustain American consumption, without these exports energy supplies would be limited. This chapter evaluated U.S. measures to curtail the threat of civil unrest in these states. Plan Colombia proved relatively successful in the elimination of DTOs from Colombia, however; in an effort to regain their empire, DTOs have begun attacking oil production plants. Now, on the verge of inciting a civil war between DTOs and the government, U.S. petroleum exports from Colombia could be at risk. Venezuela has experienced recent civil unrest due to humanitarian rights violations and unfair elections by the current authoritarian regime. Venezuela's biggest economic contributor, PDVSA state oil company, has shown signs of decreasing production. The U.S. has imposed economic sanctions against the Venezuela regime to restore order. Venezuela has responded with refusing to abide by the economic sanctions and creating an anti-American rhetoric within its state. Chapter Two concludes with affirming the hypothesis that threats these two case studies present can negatively impact U.S. energy security. Not only have current policies not alleviated the aforementioned threats, but have exacerbated the situation in both cases resulting in unintended consequences as well. The final chapter examines the U.S. democratization strategies implemented within Latin America. The hypothesis states U.S. intervention strategies have not been successful in furthering democratization goals in Latin America. Covert action, economic sanctions, and diplomatic measures were the strategies evaluated. All have been implemented in varying degrees in Latin America. The case studies selected were: Guatemala from the 1950s to current, Venezuela from 1990s to current, and Mexico from 1990s to current. These case studies were chosen because they exemplified the most recent and most relevant cases of democratization strategies. Evidence provided in this chapter proves a correct hypothesis that U.S. democratization goals were not met with any measure of success. Also through the investigation, these strategies proved to be used to preserve a U.S. interest instead of promoting democratic goals. In conclusion, this thesis highlights some of the major issues of U.S. policy in Latin America. Although Latin America poses real threats, many policies deemed in favor of creating democracy in Latin America, are really to preserve U.S. interests. The major areas of security issues are discussed throughout this thesis to convey the idea that a more honest approach to these policies might create a better relationship with Latin America as a whole. Also, a more direct and reformative policy approach to alleviating these issues will mitigate the issues that impact the U.S. The anti-American rhetoric is becoming stronger and could create even greater international relation issues in the future. Each chapter provides recommendations for eliminating the threat presented, promote better Latin American governance, and provide security to the U.S. interests