China Increases Foreign Military Training in Latin America

[Ryan Ruck]

China Increases Foreign Military Training in Latin America

China is training increasing numbers of Latin American military personnel, taking advantage of a three-year old U.S. law that has led to a sharp decline in U.S.-run training programs for the region, an Army general said Tuesday.

Gen. Bantz Craddock, who oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said military members of all ranks are receiving training in China, In addition, he said, more and more Chinese non-lethal military equipment is showing up in the region...It's a growing phenomenon."

Craddock testified before a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing where lawmakers from both parties called for the elimination of the law that authorizes U.S. training programs only under certain conditions — requirements that some countries refuse to accept.

The measure has given the Chinese military an opening in Latin America for the first time.

Committee Chairman John Warner expressed concern over the Chinese activities as did Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), the ranking Democrat on the panel. Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) suggested that repeal of the amendment should be included in an emergency supplemental legislation now being considered.

Said Sen. Hillary Clinton, "I think this is one of the most serious problems we face," alluding to the Chinese actions. The committee has a duty to "sound the alarm," she added.

At issue is a U.S. law that mandates an end to military training in countries that refuse to exempt U.S. citizens overseas from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Nations that join the ICC can evade U.S. sanctions can by signing an agreement with the United States that provides Americans immunity from ICC prosecution.

Twelve Latin American countries have declined to do so and are now subject to sanctions. Craddock testified that in 2003, a year before the law took effect, the United States trained 771 military personnel from countries that are now sanctioned.

The training curriculum, he said in his prepared testimony, includes instruction on the importance of civilian supremacy in the governing process.

The reduced U.S. role, he said, "opens the door for competing nations and outside political actors who may not share our democratic principles."

Lawmakers approved the legislation out of concern that Americans overseas, including military personnel, diplomats and ordinary citizens, could be subject to politically motivated ICC prosecutions.

The ICC was set up four years ago under U.N. sponsorship in an attempt to ensure that perpetrators of genocide or crimes against humanity are brought to justice.

On another subject, Craddock said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was playing a "destabilizing" role in the region by trying to export his "extreme populist movement" elsewhere in the region.

Among Venezuela's target countries, Craddock said, are Peru and Nicaragua, both of which are due to hold presidential elections later this year.

Venezuela's actions, Craddock said, are making its more difficult for these countries to establish democratic roots.

[Ryan Ruck]

Chinese Training Military in Latin America

China is training increasing numbers of Latin American military personnel, taking advantage of a three-year old U.S. law that has led to a sharp decline in U.S.-run training programs for the region, an Army general said Tuesday.

Gen. Bantz Craddock, who oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said military members of all ranks are receiving training in China, In addition, he said, more and more Chinese non-lethal military equipment is showing up in the region...It's a growing phenomenon."

Craddock testified before a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing where lawmakers from both parties called for the elimination of the law that authorizes U.S. training programs only under certain conditions - requirements that some countries refuse to accept.

The measure has given the Chinese military an opening in Latin America for the first time.

Committee Chairman John Warner expressed concern over the Chinese activities as did Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the panel. Sen. John McCain suggested that repeal of the amendment should be included in an emergency supplemental legislation now being considered.

Said Sen. Hillary Clinton, "I think this is one of the most serious problems we face," alluding to the Chinese actions. The committee has a duty to "sound the alarm," she added.

At issue is a U.S. law that mandates an end to military training in countries that refuse to exempt U.S. citizens overseas from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Nations that join the ICC can evade U.S. sanctions by signing an agreement with the United States that provides Americans immunity from ICC prosecution.

Twelve Latin American countries have declined to do so and are now subject to sanctions. Craddock testified that in 2003, a year before the law took effect, the United States trained 771 military personnel from countries that are now sanctioned.

The training curriculum, he said in his prepared testimony, includes instruction on the importance of civilian supremacy in the governing process.

[Ryan Ruck]

Chinese Military Trains In West

China is stepping up military training in Latin America because of a law that limits U.S. military support to nations in the region, the general in charge of the U.S. Southern Command told Congress yesterday.

Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, who oversees U.S. military activities in the region, said a lack of engagement on the part of the United States has benefited China.

"If we are not there and we can't provide this opportunity, someone else will," Gen. Craddock told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Other nations are moving in. The People's Republic of China has made many offers, and now we are seeing those who formerly would come to the United States going to China."

The growing Chinese role comes amid numerous high-level visits by its leaders and other activities aimed at building military and economic ties to leftist governments and other states in a strategic region long-considered within the U.S. sphere of influence.

The military inroads followed passage of the 2002 American Servicemembers Protection Act that blocks U.S. military financing and training to nations that have not agreed to bar the extradition of U.S. citizens to the International Criminal Court, Gen. Craddock said. The act ended military aid to 11 nations in the region, he said.

"Some of these countries are critical -- Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia," Gen. Craddock said, noting that in several nations, "we are losing the opportunity to bring their officers, their senior noncommissioned officers, to the United Sates into our schools."

The lack of training has prevented sharing U.S. military "attributes and characteristics" with foreign militaries, including concepts of military subordination to civilian leaders, and principles of democracy, he said.

Gen. Craddock said Latin American military leaders have told him that they need more U.S. involvement. The absence of involvement "opens the door for competing nations ... who may not share our democratic principles," Gen. Craddock said.

Committee Chairman Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican and the ranking Democrat, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, expressed concern. Committee member Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, suggested that the funding and training ban be lifted as part of a spending bill under consideration.

Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, said China is seeking deals with the leftist government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and with Argentina on civilian-use nuclear goods.

Gen. Craddock said the Chavez government is a "very destabilizing influence" in the region.

He said that prior to the ban, the United States trained 771 military members from countries now barred from training.

Chinese military inroads are accompanying greater economic involvement. Last year, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the region and economic agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars for mineral and energy resources followed.

Less is known about arms sales, however, China recently offered to sell new shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to the leftist government in Bolivia. The Chinese have supplied military equipment to Cuba and are cooperating with Brazil on a joint satellite project thought to have military applications.

China has also offered to sell its new FC-1 jet fighter to Venezuela, after last year's sale of three JYL-1 mobile air-defense radar units.

Larry Wortzel, a former Pentagon intelligence official, said China recently dispatched a delegation of Second Artillery officers to Cuba. The artillery unit is China's strategic and tactical missile force, and the visit raises questions about whether Cuba is acquiring missiles.

An eight-member military delegation to Cuba earlier this month was led by Lt. Gen. Peng Xiaofeng, political commissar of the Second Artillery forces.

"We know almost nothing" about Chinese military and intelligence activities in the region, a Pentagon official said.

Mexico is also being courted. Last year, three of the nine members of the ruling Communist Party of China Politburo Standing Committee, the collective dictatorship that rules China, visited Mexico.

Additionally, Chinese economic activities are increasing in Canada, the Pentagon official said, noting that the activities in the hemisphere are part of a "counter-encirclement" strategy by Beijing, aimed at neutralizing what China views as a U.S. policy of building up bases and alliances in nations around China.

[Brian Baldwin]

"We know almost nothing" about Chinese military and intelligence activities in the region, a Pentagon official said."

This is wholely unacceptable. What in the F**K are we paying are intel organizations for? Our CIA is bigger now than it has ever been in the past and we don't even know what our closest enemies are up to.... Somehow I get the sinking suspicion that we know EXACTLY what they're up to and playing it low key... Somehow we need to get more information about these areas for our members. We need some insiders that can tell us some bits without compromising National Security. The media will never give us what we need here.

That's my two cents on this issue.