The great power threats that exist in the Western Hemisphere look different than those in other parts of the globe, U.S. Southern Command’s Adm. Craig Faller told the Washington Examiner, with China seeking port rights and technological penetration and Russia increasing disinformation and intelligence-gathering.
The U.S. response relies on shared values and strengthened partnerships in a common “neighborhood,” Faller explained.
“That concept of neighborhood is under assault,” he said in a recent Zoom interview.
“Great power competition is playing out alive and well right here in this hemisphere,” he said. “China’s playing the long ball, and Russia’s playing this disinformation campaign today.”
Faller said China recently tried to lock up a significant portion of the coast of El Salvador in a long-term leasing deal and then access to a deep-water port in Jamaica.
“Is it about resources? Sure. Is it about access, presence, and influence? Absolutely,” he said. “China is recognizing that to achieve their long-term goals, they’ve got to have the kind of presence right here in our neighborhood that we have in their near abroad.”
But China doesn’t have the same relationships, developed over decades, he said.
“The chief of defense of El Salvador is a product of our [United States Military Education & Training] program, he went to war college here,” Faller said. “There’s the cultural and values piece of this. So, we have a shared history that goes way back.”
The Southcom commander said shared history, culture, and values with the nations of the hemisphere, coupled with American education, training, and assistance relationships, preserve America’s interests in its own backyard and ward off adversaries at low relative cost.
Faller said it meant “being able to look into the eyes of a chief of defense or minister of defense and have a conversation founded in what we believe, it’s a conversation that’s value-based. And it’s a conversation that has led to the strong partnerships.”
The Chinese are now trying to copy the U.S. model.
“They’ve taken the book from places like Carlisle and Fort Leavenworth and rewritten it in Chinese and Spanish, and they’re bringing students over, just bringing them over in big groups,” he said.
China is also “quietly” doing military-to-military diplomacy in the region, offering to sign agreements and host students. Cash-strapped Latin American nations are also receiving gifts of Chinese military technology, including trucks and small boats.
On the economic front, China is aggressively promoting use of its 5G technology, cyber, and security platforms.
“They’re coming in with packages that allow the surveillance of cities, and then, of course, the downside of that for the city is the back door it provides China with all the intel,” said Faller.
Russian malign influence more immediate
Faller said Russia’s influence in the region is more immediate.
“Russia, on the other hand, some of their arms sales are on the decline, but what’s not on the decline is their disinformation campaign,” he said.
Faller said Russia’s Spanish-language social media disinformation campaign is second only to its Russian language effort in the hemisphere.
In part, Russia’s regional engagement is directed toward the non-democratic countries of the hemisphere, including Venezuela and Cuba.
“They’ve done their best to take care of their interests and stymie the unified international voice of democracy,” Faller said.
In Venezuela, for instance, although Russia withdrew much of its military advisers in 2019, it conducted more port visits than it had in decades. That translates to intelligence collection and outreach in the face of U.S. interests and national security.
Faller described a hemisphere of young democracies that benefit greatly from security cooperation and assistance provided by the United States, aid that he says is crucial to displacing that of non-democratic adversaries.
Faller draws a line between adversarial support for non-democratic governments in the region and the corruption that feeds a “vicious circle of threats” to the U.S. and the region.
“This vicious circle tries to choke off democracy because democracy runs counter to what the vicious circle feeds on,” he said. “The threat piece of the vicious circle is corruption. It’s transnational criminal organizations, narcotraffickers, and narcoterrorists.”
All those threats now emanate from Venezuela, he said.
In April, President Trump announced a major push in the region, awarding Southern Command additional ships and aircraft with which to conduct counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The result has gone beyond 60 tons of seized cocaine and nearly 200 detained drug traffickers. It has taken the form of joint operations that put into practice techniques the U.S. military practices together with the nations of the region, which often use interoperable American military equipment.
Colombia’s April 1 “Orion 5” operation is an example of a longtime recipient of U.S. aid now taking the lead. Its own counter-narcotics operation encompassed 25 nations in the region and Europe. The U.S. ran its anti-drug mission in parallel, Faller said.
“The partner nations have been committed,” he said, underscoring the positive influence of sustained engagement in the region amid a defense-wide budget review of each of the regional combatant commands.
“A key piece of National Defense Strategy for us calls out specifically to maintain a favorable regional balance of power,” Faller explained. “To me, that means partners who want to partner with us, and different than other parts of the globe, there isn’t this encroachment by the other great powers.”
