We republish below an unofficial translation of the following article from the Brazilian New Democratic newspaper A Nova Democracia (AND), originally published on November 11, 2024.
Admiral Alvin Holsey is the new commander of the Southern Command of the U.S. Armed Forces. During the inauguration ceremony, the military officer emphasized the strategic nature of the Yankees’ actions in Latin America, expressing concern about Russian and Chinese influence, which he said posed a risk to the stability and security of the subcontinent and to U.S. imperialism itself.
The admiral will replace General Laura Richardson, whose administration was responsible for the unprecedented rise of Yankee interventionism in Latin America. There were more than 24 joint exercises with American troops involving more than 40,000 soldiers from 30 countries, including in the Brazilian Amazon, which is unprecedented. In addition, under her management, the military bases of Ushuaia in Argentina and Alcântara in Brazil were created. The general also proposed the creation of a new “Marshall Plan” through investments from the Inter-American Development Bank (BIRD).
Instability in the region and crisis in Haiti
Holsey’s speech demonstrated the great concern of the US military establishment with the “stability of the region”, which they say is threatened by economic, climate and migration crises, as well as by the interference of “organized crime”.
The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, present at the ceremony, also highlighted the role of US forces in the current crisis in Haiti, stating that the Pentagon will continue to support Haitian security forces as they “restore security and stability for the Haitian people”. Referring to the joint effort of imperialist interference in the region under US command, and using troops from Kenya, the secretary conveniently failed to mention the failed interventions by Brazilian troops under UN mandate between 2004 and 2017. The troops of MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) were responsible for numerous crimes against the Haitian people.
The slowest gazelle dies
“The slowest gazelle dies. When the sun comes up, you better be running.” The fatalistic tone of Alvin Holsey’s words is not for nothing. Referring to the inter-imperialist dispute with Russia and China, the new commander of the Southern Command did not mince words when describing the current state of competition in Latin America: “To understand me is to understand the essence of survival. Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows what it is to outrun the fastest lion or be killed.”
For the US military, the degree of China’s economic influence is especially important, with 21 countries on the continent having signed cooperation agreements with the Asian power within the framework of the New Silk Road and Belt and Road project. This is in addition to the growing Russian military influence, which signed cooperation agreements and even sent troops and weapons to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela amid the crisis with Guyana.
General Richardson completed Holsey’s bellicose tone: “This is a call to action. And this is a struggle between democracy and autocracy. It’s that simple.”
Latin America is key to the new global conflict on the horizon
With the ongoing Palestinian genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and the constant threat of a war breaking out in the South China Sea between the PRC and Taiwan, US troops are seeing their contingents more spread out and committed to numerous conflicts. The recent defeat in Afghanistan in 2021 made it clear that their strategy of intervention in the Middle East is already running out of steam. Given the possibility of a new war of global proportions, control over the Yankee zone of influence in Latin America is becoming essential for the survival of their global system of domination. And the US military knows this very well, as demonstrated by their recent military intervention in Peru.
With Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, many are expecting a new deepening of the bellicose policy towards Latin America, even more so after the president-elect declared that if he had been elected in 2020 he would have “taken Venezuela” and “taken all the oil.” Now he is trying to pressure the Brazilian government, even before taking office, to build an anti-Venezuela “regional coalition.” Trump has also stated that his first act as president will be to expel all those who are in the country illegally, currently more than 12 million people, certainly contributing to the outbreak of an immense social catastrophe with political repercussions that are still unimaginable throughout the continent.
Photo: Left to right: Lloyd Austin (Secretary of Defense); Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr.; Adm. Alvin Holsey; Gen. Laura Richardson
