[Peace-discuss] A growing menace in Latin America, according to the Pentagon

[Phil Stinard]

As suggested by Carl, here is my translation of the article on “radical 
populism.”  The quotes of General Hill in English are taken directly from 
his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on March 24, 2004.  
You can read the testimony in its entirety at the web site: 
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-644.html

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http://www.jornada.unam.mx/030n1mun.php?origen=index.html&fly=1
La Jornada, UNAM, Mexico City, March 29, 2004

translated by Phil Stinard

JIM CASON AND DAVID BROOKS CORRESPONDENTS

Washington and New York, March 28.  A new threat is emerging in Latin 
America, according to the Pentagon:  Radical populism.

Besides the traditional threats always mentioned in evaluations of 
hemispheric security, such as narcoterrorism, corruption, and organized 
crime, the Pentagon has detected an equally worrisome threat.  “These 
traditional threats are now complemented by an emerging threat best 
described as radical populism, in which the democratic process is undermined 
to decrease rather than protect individual rights,” declared this week 
General James T. Hill, chief of the Southern Command of the United States.

In declarations in which he evaluated the situation of hemispheric security 
before the Armed Forces Committee of the House of Representatives last week, 
General Hill warned that “some leaders in the region are tapping into 
deep-seated frustrations of the failure of democratic reforms to deliver 
expected goods and services.  By tapping into these frustrations, which run 
concurrently with frustrations caused by social and economic inequality, the 
leaders are at the same time able to reinforce their radical positions by 
inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment.  Additionally, other actors are seeking to 
undermine U.S. interests in the region by supporting these movements.”

As examples, he cited Haiti, Venezuela, and Bolivia, whose “radical” leaders 
have promoted anti-U. S. sentiments and at the same time seek to exploit the 
fragile context of their countries in order to promote and reinforce their 
power.  He also indicated that “the Argentine economic crisis has caused 
many to question the validity of neo-liberal reforms, manifested in the 
Buenos Aires Consensus signed last October by Presidents (Argentinian 
Néstor) Kirchner and (Brazilian Luis Inacio) Lula (da Silva) and stressing 
‘respect for poor countries.’"

Hill warned that traditional threats together with this emerging threat are 
nurished in a context in which “states in the region [..] are generally 
marked by weak institutions and struggling economies. This resulting frailty 
of state control can lead to ungoverned or ill-governed spaces and people, 
corruption, and clientalism.”

General Hill, maximum leader of the U. S. armed forces in Latin America, 
added that “the militaries we work with in the area of responsibility are 
feeling the brunt of both threats and weak governments, but for the most 
part have supported their respective constitutions, remained professional, 
and respected human rights.”  However, he informed Congress that Latin 
American militaries “will be under increasing pressure from these stressors 
over the next several years.”

But, the general did not offer options to resolve these problems, nor did he 
suggest a change in the economic and social policies that feed these new 
“threats.”  His only prescription was that “we must maintain and broaden our 
consistent military-to-military contacts as a means of irrevocably 
institutionalizing the professional nature of those militaries with which we 
have worked so closely over the past several decades.”

The only response offered to confront the factors of social instability, 
according to Hill, is to aid the efforts of allied countries in order to 
“address these threats and underlying structural factors through consistent, 
patient cooperation.”

Hill warned the legislators that, according to the World Health 
Organization, Latin America is the most violent region on the planet, as 
measured by homicides per capita.  This is partly the result of the lack of 
public security, curruption, and illicit activities, but also arises from 
socioeconomic problems, Hill suggested.

>From here he added, arises the new threat of “radical populism.”  According 
to Hill, “populism in and of itself is not a threat. Rather, the threat 
emerges when it becomes radicalized by a leader who increasingly uses his 
position and support from a segment of the population to infringe gradually 
upon the rights of all citizens,” a tendency that, according to Hill, leads 
to the degradation of democracy and concentrates “power in the hands of a 
few rather than guaranteeing the individual rights of the many.”

Elaborating on the point, he indicated that “anti-American sentiment has 
also been used to reinforce the positions of radical leaders who seek to 
distract the populace from their own shortcomings,” and said that this 
sentiment “also troubles our partner nations as well, as elected leaders 
must take into account the sometime very vocal views of their constituents.”

Hill considers that these tendencies in the region “paint a negative picture 
in many regards” and bear close scrutiny.  “We will maintain vigilance,” he 
affirmed.

He concluded that, despite some successes in the region, not enough has been 
done to limit “the growth of radical populism and popular dissatisfaction in 
some countries where reforms have failed to solve underlying social and 
economic woes.”  He indicated that “we continue to work to improve both the 
capabilities and professionalism of our partner nations' militaries, so they 
can maintain their own security and can assist in combating common 
transnational threats”

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