By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
MIAMI, June 18, 2012 – Air Force Gen.
Douglas M. Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command, regularly tells members
of Congress, audiences around the region and members of his command that events
in South America, Central America and the Caribbean affect U.S. national
security.
“The hemisphere is our shared home,”
Fraser noted in his Command Strategy 2020 “Partnership for the Americas”
document issued in July.
“We are all Americans” in the region, he
added.
While a mere glance at a map underscores
the obvious physical connection among the hemisphere’s nations, Fraser cited
other bonds that cross economic, cultural, ideological and security lines.
“Latin America and the Caribbean are
vitally important to the security and future of the United States,” he said.
“The nations of the region are inextricably linked, and we face common
challenges to our security and stability.”
With globalization unfolding at
lightning speed over the past decade, transforming commerce, culture, trade and
technology, it’s had a profound impact on security as well, the general noted
in his 2012 Southcom posture statement, released in March.
Fraser said he’s particularly concerned
about “the parallel globalization of organized crime, violence, murder and
kidnapping related to illicit trafficking.”
He noted that in many parts of the
hemisphere, particularly in Central America, transnational organized crime has
evolved to become a “volatile and potentially destabilizing threat to both
citizen and regional security.”
These sophisticated networks operate
across national borders and dividing lines for U.S. geographic combatant
commands, demanding an unprecedented level of cooperation among those
attempting to counter them -- regionally, nationally and across U.S. agencies,
he said.
“The challenge for United States
Southern Command is to find creative ways to enhance the interagency,
public-private and partner-nation cooperation as we plan, train and operate
with regional military to address the predominant security concerns in the
region,” Fraser said.
Fraser recognized other persistent
challenges facing the region, including poverty, crime, corruption,
institutional weakness, illicit trafficking and terrorism. “These challenges
complicate our collective efforts to secure the hemisphere,” he stated in his
2020 command strategy. “At the same time, security helps provide the very means
to address these issues.”
He cited the vulnerability of much of
Latin America and the Caribbean to humanitarian crises, mass migrations and
natural disasters.
Southcom works closely with partner
nations to strengthen their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
capabilities, Fraser told the House Armed Services Committee in May. “And we
remain ready to respond should our assistance be requested,” he added.
Meanwhile, Southcom watches for
potential geopolitical turbulence that could affect U.S. citizens and military
personnel in the region, he said in his posture statement. He cited Cuba,
Haiti, Bolivia and Venezuela as areas of particular interest.
Frasier noted the yet-to-be-seen
long-term effects of Cuba’s market reforms under Raul Castro’s leadership.
Haiti, while making slow but steady progress, remains vulnerable to natural
disasters and economic hardship, the general said.
Meanwhile, he added, public demonstrations
in Bolivia related to low wages, high food prices and energy shortages are
likely to continue until the Bolivian government addresses these issues. And in
Venezuela, Fraser recognized continuing uncertainty about President Hugo
Chavez’ health, as well as continued economic instability and escalating
violence that he said place increasing demands on that country’s government.
Adding to the list of concerns, Fraser
pointed to Hezbollah supporters operating throughout South America and the fact
that the region has become home to a small number of violent extremist
organizations.
“We remain vigilant for the potential
radicalization of homegrown extremists,” he said. Fraser noted that Sunni
extremists, while small in number, are actively involved in radicalization
efforts.
Jamaica’s Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal, for
example, was convicted in the United Kingdom for inciting terrorism, he said.
Al-Qaida senior operative Adnan el-Shukrijumah has held valid passports for the
United States as well as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, where he has family
and associates. And despite recent convictions in the 2007 plot to attack the
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, one of the alleged
co-conspirators remains at large in Guyana.
Meanwhile, Fraser noted, Iran represents
a troublesome influence in the region, attempting to circumvent international
sanctions through ties with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba.
“We take Iranian activity in the hemisphere seriously, and we monitor its
activities closely,” he said.
In presenting his command priorities,
Fraser emphasized four major objectives:
-- Strengthen regional partnerships;
-- Increase partner capability;
-- Confront regional challenges; and
-- Support humanitarian and disaster
response, as required.
Fraser called partnership-building “the
cornerstone of our strategic approach.” It ensures the forward defense of the
United States, he said, by promoting capable regional militaries that share in
the responsibility of hemispheric security and stability.
“What we focus on in the region is
building partner capacity and security cooperation, collaboratively, with
willing nations,” Navy Vice Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, Southcom’s military deputy
commander, told American Forces Press Service at the command’s headquarters
here. “We endeavor to plan extensively with them, ensuring that our efforts to
help build their security in ways they believe are helpful to them.”
These efforts are coordinated closely with
the State Department and with full respect for each partner nation’s
sovereignty, Kernan said.
“We truly want to be the security
partner of choice,” said Army Maj. Gen. Gerald W. Ketchum, director of the
command’s theater engagement directorate, who oversees many of the programs
designed to build those partnerships. “And as we work to build them, we want
those partnerships to be enduring.”
In establishing new ties and
strengthening existing ones, Kernan said, Southcom is demonstrating the deep
U.S. commitment to the region.
“We have to pursue a persistent,
welcomed presence with countries in the region,” he said. “That is what builds
lasting relations and mutual respect. We need to be able to stand alongside our
partners and talk about collectively addressing common security problems.”
Fraser said efforts to strengthen and
enhance partner nations’ ability to respond to domestic and regional threats --
individually and collectively -- will pay off in long-term security for the
region.
“We envision a hemisphere characterized
by nations working together to address the emerging security challenges of the
coming decade,” he said.
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