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U.S. forces are still built up in the Caribbean, more than a month after the U.S. apprehended Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro. Experts say it's part of a long-term strategy that is opening old wounds in the region. Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk has the story.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RAFAEL AUGUSTO: (Chanting) Not for U.S. occupation.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Not for U.S. occupation.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: In November, Rafael Augusto helped lead a protest outside the gates of Naval Station Norfolk. His group, the Puerto Rican Historical Collective, works with groups who once pushed the Navy to close some of its bases there.
AUGUSTO: Now seeing them reopen, and that's a really deep wound for Puerto Ricans, especially those who fought to see them close.
WALSH: Public outcry led the Navy to shut down its bases on the islands in the early 2000s after a person was killed during a live fire exercise. At least 12 Navy ships have remained in the Caribbean since the fall, including the USS Ford Carrier Strike Group. The USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, with its 2,000 Marines, have been drilling with the Puerto Rico National Guard. Marine F-35s are taking off from the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The influx of troops shows no sign of ending, even after the U.S. raid into Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro. Henry Ziemer is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
HENRY ZIEMER: But I would not be surprised if by this time, you know, in 2029, we still see a much larger U.S. military presence in the Caribbean and potentially the Eastern Pacific as well.
WALSH: The recent U.S. defense strategy makes the Western Hemisphere the military's No. 1 priority in the world. It's an abrupt shift, though. The U.S. once had a much larger footprint in Central and South America, Ziemer says.
ZIEMER: The simple answer is the Cold War ended. We saw a kind of a wave of democratization roll over the region. Many of the more odious regimes, including some that the United States had helped prop up, fell.
WALSH: For the first time since the 1990s, the U.S. is conducting joint operations with government forces in Panama at former U.S. installations. Not everyone is happy. Ecuador's government was interested in allowing the U.S. to restart operations there, but a referendum to allow foreign bases in the country failed in November, says Roxanna Vigil with the Council on Foreign Relations.
ROXANNA VIGIL: What you see in Ecuador is a sign of public concern in these countries with regard to U.S. intervention. And I think that goes back to decades and decades of history of the U.S. deploying the military in the region, often to very destabilizing ends.
WALSH: Instability in Venezuela has led to mass migration for over a decade. If the Trump administration cannot significantly change the political environment, the outflow of people could lead to more distrust of the U.S. among Venezuela's neighbors, Vigil says.
VIGIL: I think the Trump administration is right to prioritize the Western Hemisphere. I think it's been neglected. But I think the way that they're going about it, to me, doesn't lead to stability. Right now, it leads to essentially much more of the same with the exception of the U.S. taking the oil.
WALSH: If the U.S. is looking at acquiring natural resources in the region or keeping other foreign competitors at bay, a military buildup may not be the right tool for the job. Jorge Heine is a former Chilean ambassador to China.
JORGE HEINE: Over the past 20 years, both in terms of trade and terms of investment, the United States has basically been leaving South America. And as we know, nature abhors a vacuum, and, you know, the Chinese have stepped in.
WALSH: He says China is focused on making economic inroads. Beijing doesn't really compete militarily in the region. In other words, when it comes to trade, gunboat diplomacy can only accomplish so much. For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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