Just as it did with NATO members, the Donald Trump administration is now seeking for Latin American countries to increase their defense spending to strengthen security in the hemisphere.
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The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Affairs, Elbridge Colby, argues that countries in the region must invest more in Defense and security as part of the new national security strategy promoted by the Trump administration, considering that drug trafficking, organized crime, and the influence of hostile actors represent growing threats to regional stability.
“It is essential that our neighbors in the region invest more in their own defense and security. There is no reason for any country, especially those facing significant narcoterrorist threats, to allocate so little to defense,” Colby wrote in Americas Quarterly magazine.
The senior Pentagon official called it “absurd” that some Latin American countries “allocate less than 1% of their GDP to national defense,” although he did not specify which ones.
“This goes against common sense,” Colby states in his text. “Meanwhile, our allies around the world, including Europe, are significantly increasing their spending: 3.5% in basic military expenditures and an additional 1.5% in security-related expenses,” referring to NATO members.
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The U.S. official frames this call within the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” a reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine which, he explains, seeks to strengthen cooperation between Washington and its Latin American partners to prevent rival powers or criminal groups from consolidating their influence in the Western Hemisphere.
“Of course, we recognize that the Monroe Doctrine is controversial in many areas. But it is also often misunderstood,” he pointed out.
Colby defended that the goal of the United States “is not exploitation, subordination, or dependency,” but that Latin American nations have “greater prosperity, security, and stability.” “All we ask of our neighbors is to work with us to prevent any actor from claiming and exploiting key assets in this hemisphere,” he writes.
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