by the El Reportero’s news services
Alan García
President Alan García reshuffled his cabinet this week. This is customary before presidential and congressional elections (due next April) as Peru’s electoral law requires ministers seeking election to resign their positions at least six months in advance. One of the nine changes García made, however, was for entirely different reasons.
García parted company with his defence minister, Rafael Rey, because he was the obvious scapegoat for a serious human rights controversy, which saw García on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from domestic and international human rights groups, culminating in a lacerating letter on 13 September from the pen of Peru’s Nobel laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa.
Transparency and judicial effectiveness set Uruguay apart
The multimillion dollar ‘phantom purchases’ scandal that has dominated Uruguayan headlines over the past month has been generally seized upon by local analysts as yet another example of deep-seated corruption; it has also raised questions about the role of the armed forces and whether the size of all three military branches should be reduced.
However large and deepseated the corruption scheme, it is notable that unlike most other countries in the region, the Uruguayan justice system and the executive responded in a timely and effective manner, pressing charges where prosecution was due, investigating dozens of allegations and moving quickly with a structural reform of the procurement system used by the armed forces to prevent similar irregularities from recurring in the future.
Columbia and Ecuador unite against Farc
In the early hours of 19 Sept. 19, the Colombian armed forces led the largest military attack against the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) so far this year, killing 22 members of the leftwing guerrilla group in an assault on its 48th Front.
The offensive against the Farc took place in the municipality of San Miguel, near the eponymous border town attacked by the Farc last Sept. 10, which sits on the banks of the San Miguel River, the natural border between Ecuador and Colombia.
The operation demonstrates the renewed diplomatic and military cooperation between Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador. Colombian offi cials kept in constant contact with their Ecuadorean counterparts, and Ecuador strengthened its forces in the area to prevent Farc rebels from escaping into their territory.
Changing perceptions: the US military in the region
“Important economic and political trends have emerged [in Latin America] in recent years. […] New regional, economic, political and defense [sic] structures have evolved, some excluding the US. These trends present both opportunities and challenges for US policy.”
That is how a US Southern Command July 2010 white paper, “Command Strategy 2020: Partnership for the Americas”, defi nes the current situation in the region [Latin America].
For the US, the emergence of a new type of sub-regional cooperation sceptical about the northern giant has provided the opportunity to re-shape perceptions on the role of its military in the region, placing special emphasis on its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts (HA/DR). Latin News contributed to this report.
