South America – The Next Swamp?

One of the most interesting discoveries of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon was that the PLO was running a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, cross-cultural terrorist training system on Lebanese soil. It was the original swamp of the terrorist swamp theory. Israel put it out of business. America is draining the Afghan one. But watch out for Central and South America, where ideological killers are regrouping with the aid of leftist governments and drug lords.

One of the most interesting discoveries of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon was that the PLO was running a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual, cross-cultural terrorist training system on Lebanese soil. It was the original swamp of the terrorist swamp theory. Israel put it out of business. America is draining the Afghan one. But watch out for Central and South America, where ideological killers are regrouping with the aid of leftist governments and drug lords.

A British newspaper reports that the IRA is conducting mortar training in the Venezuelan jungle for the Marxist Colombian FARC. Photographs show the jungle training camp of three IRA terrorists who fled Colombia where they had been sentenced to 17 years in jail for terrorist training. There are reports of FARC funding for the political party of Brazil’s president Lula da Silva – denied by the party. The Chavez government in Venezuela has pursued close relations with Fidel Castro and Uruguay’s new leftist President Tabare Vazquez, and brokered new diplomatic relations between Uruguay and Cuba. Chavez has ordered MIG-29s from Russia and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles. Who are they planning to shoot? Or to whom are they going to give them?

A Dutch newspaper reports that al-Qaeda is active in Panama while Panama’s new President is seeking closer ties to Cuba. From Nicaragua comes the disquieting discovery of 1,000 shoulder-fired missiles that the Sandinistas (remember them?) are keeping the right-leaning government from destroying.

What gives?

Among other things, Gen. Craddock, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told Congress the cutoff of American military aid to 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries had the effect of cutting them off from American influence in the military/drug interdiction sphere. The cutoff was mandated by the U.S. requirement that governments exempt American military personnel serving in their countries from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The U.S. rejects the Court as a potential venue for the political prosecution of American service personnel abroad, as well as being in conflict with provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

We fully concur with the government’s concerns about the ICC. But Gen. Craddock makes an important point. “There will be unintended consequences, that we loose contact, engagement, the opportunity to learn from them and teach them about the values and ideals and beliefs in democratic institutions… and others will fill that gap.”

Who? Indigenous anti-American politicians, of course, and drug lords, but also terrorists looking for a home since we chased the Taliban out of Afghanistan. And the Chinese military. According to Gen. Craddock, Chinese defense officials made 20 visits to Latin American and Caribbean nations last year, while nine high-level delegations from Latin America visited China. All of which makes the region a swamp of potentially tragic proportions.