Posted on 03/10/2005 6:40:13 PM PST by snowsislander
China's Latin influence is growing, general says
China is taking advantage of a U.S. influence vacuum in Latin America because of aid cuts, the commander of the Southern Command says.
By PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@herald.com
WASHINGTON - The head of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command Wednesday warned that China was increasing its influence among Latin American militaries, and partly blamed a policy that cuts military aid to countries that refuse to exempt U.S. citizens from International Criminal Court jurisdiction.
In his first testimony before a House panel, Army Gen. Bantz Craddock, who heads the United States Southern Command, offered an unusually sober assessment of the impact of the U.S. policy to exempt U.S. citizens from ICC, something many nations resent as a heavy-handed U.S. imposition.
AID CUTS
He said 22 countries had their military aid cut, of which 11 were from Latin America and the Caribbean. The cuts meant that officers from those countries would not be trained in U.S. facilities
''The concern is that 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,'' Craddock told the House Armed Service Committee, adding that ``others will fill that gap.''
The Chinese military was reaching out to their Latin American counterparts, Craddock said, especially in the Pacific rim and Andean regions. Chinese defense officials made 20 visits to Latin American and Caribbean nations last year, while nine high-level delegations from Latin America visited China.
The nations affected by the sanctions are Barbados, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, St. Vincent, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil, Trinidad and Paraguay.
The Bush administration argues countries could use the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, to prosecute U.S. citizens for political reasons. By signing the exemption -- known as Article 98 -- nations agree not to transfer U.S. citizens to the ICC without U.S. consent.
In his written statement, Craddock called China's increasing influence in the region ''an emerging dynamic that could not be ignored.''
STRATEGY CHANGE
He said that China needed to protect its access to food, energy, raw materials and export markets and this had forced a change in that country's military strategy, to promote ``a power-projection military, capable of securing strategic shipping lanes and protecting its growing economic interests abroad.''
In separate hearings, two top State Department officials reiterated their concerns over Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chávez, is a fierce critic of President Bush. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a panel of the House Appropriations Committee that she wanted assurances that President Hugo Chávez is committed to democracy.
ping
China & Russia are the real Axis of Evil. Our Nation faces its greatest threat since the Civil War. May God help us.
''The concern is that 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,'' ''
Good heavens! Latin America still has to learn what democratic values are? And the only way for them to do this is to give them more billions?
Anybody else find this illogical?
If Latin America doesn't know or appreciate by now the values of the democratic west--the worth of the individual
over the state--then they'll never learn it; and they won't
come to appreciate those values--or us--just because we play sugar daddy to them.
I think that we and our children will rue the day we opened up trade and let China become wealthy.
I warned about this on FR years ago.
But, since everyone knows Quix is crazy, it carried little weight, of course.
Taiwan ?
China's a paper tiger.
They've needlessly painted themselves into a corner over Taiwan. They could have the island Finlandized by now.
And the PLA would like to personally thank the appeasionists of the Carter and Clinton administrations with helping this mess get to this point so rapidly..
True. I think China lacks the essential components of a world power....military and political strength....especially political.
I have been paying attention to this for years now. We need to take it up a level and give Taiwan and Japan some nuclear weapons.
I was well aware of this threat since about 2000.
Add in to the Chinese tendencies on their own
--the puppet masters manipulating them and the world situation to take the USA down in order to easier bring the world government up . . .
makes life interesting . . . in the traditional Chinese meaning of 'interesting times.'
You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a "China expert." And when you hit one, a silly cliche pops out. Freepin' amazing!
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