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Brazil Proposes Latin American Alliance
Regional giant Brazil is the driving force behind a proposed new South American defense grouping that threatens to exclude the United States from regional military planning at a time of growing tensions between Washington and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The creation of a South American Security Council, which would include oil-rich Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, was proposed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a meeting of 11 Latin American countries held in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, in May.
The security council would be part of an even larger effort led by Brazil to create a new Union of South American Nations, modeled on the European Union. The group would be known by its Spanish-language acronym, UNASUR, and would unite the two rival South American trading blocs, Mercosur and the Andean Community.
The council within UNASUR "excludes the presence of countries located outside the region, as would be the case of the United States," said Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim. (...)
"If there exists a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, why shouldn't there be a South Atlantic Treaty Organization?" said Mr. Chavez, who has long favored unifying South America's armies and establishing an indigenous arms industry with technology from Russia, China and Iran.
Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading Washington think tank on Latin America, said the United States should welcome the new defense council idea and especially Brazil's leadership in promoting it.(...)
Mr. Jobim has obtained backing from most other South American governments for his joint defense proposal. One exception is pro-U.S. Colombia, which nearly came to blows in March with Venezuela after Colombian troops raided a rebel camp just across the border in Ecuador.(...)
Mr. Uribe and President Bush have accused Venezuela of supporting terrorism and drug trafficking and have proposed sanctions to isolate Mr. Chavez. (...)
(...) [T]he Pentagon in April announced plans to reactivate the U.S. Navy's 4th Fleet, based in Mayport, Fla., which had not operated as a separate fleet since shortly after the end of World War II. The reconstituted fleet has responsibility for the waters off Central and South America.(...)
Rear Adm. James Stevenson, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, said the revival of the 4th Fleet, set for July 1, will send a message to the entire region, not just Venezuela. The focus probably will be on security, he said.(...)
Mr. Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue said fears of the fleet designation in Latin America were overblown and reflected the general distrust in the region for the United States and the Bush administration in particular.(...)
Whatever its purpose, the 4th Fleet move was attacked immediately by the hemisphere's anti-American leftists, led by Mr. Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro.(...)
Brazil, which has maintained friendly relations with Washington and Caracas, has said that any UNASUR security alliance would be purely defensive and mainly aimed at standardizing military procurement and training.(...)
Brazilian defense officials have said that the council would coordinate joint maneuvers and military personnel exchanges between South America's militaries.
The move toward closer South American security cooperation comes amid growing worries of a continental arms race.
Total defense spending for Latin America - including Mexico and Central America - jumped to $38 billion in 2007 from $25 billion four years ago, according to a recent survey by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.(...)
*David R. Sands contributed to this report from Washington
