Defense Secretary James N. Mattis has embarked on his first diplomatic visit to South America, arriving as the region continues to be embroiled in political and economic upheaval that could have a destabilizing effect. Departing Sunday, the Pentagon chief first will visit military and national security counterparts in Brazil, before traveling to Argentina and Chile and ending his visit with meetings with administration officials of newly elected Colombian President Ivan Duque — the youngest president elected in the South American nation. The visit coincides with Trump administration efforts to expand U.S. cooperation with allies in the Americas, according to a Pentagon statement on Mr. Mattis’ trip. “These relationships are critical to a collaborative, prosperous and secure Western hemisphere,” Defense Department officials noted, according to the statement. However, internal tensions in Venezuela and in nearby Nicaragua threaten to undermine efforts by Washington and the international community in Central and South America. Mr. Mattis’ visit comes weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was the target of an drone assassination attempt. Popular uprisings against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the regime’s brutal crackdown on those protests have regional experts saying the country could be facing a civil war. Aside from turmoil in the Americas, U.S. defense and national security officials continue to grapple with the threat of radical jihadist groups such as the Islamic State taking root in the region, possibly using Central and South American nations as a launch pad for attacks inside the United States. The attempted assassination of Mr. Maduro made global headlines, as grainy cellphone video purported to show a propeller-topped drone exploding near an apartment building in Caracas. The video’s veracity could not be confirmed, but other footage quickly spread from Venezuelan news outlets showing a panicked crowed dispersing from a nearby political rally as Mr. Maduro’s security guards scrambled to cover him with bulletproof shields. Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol claimed that two drones, each packed with 2.2 pounds of C4 plastic explosive, were flown toward Mr. Maduro, his wife and other top leaders as the president spoke to hundreds of troops during the event celebrating the 81st anniversary of the Venezuelan National Guard. Government officials have detained six suspects in connection with the attack, with Caracas claiming co-conspirators in Miami, Colombia and elsewhere. Mr. Maduro’s government, which took power after the 2013 death of strongman Hugo Chavez, is barely clinging to power amid an economic tumult. The country was thrown in to chaos this spring when Venezuela’s currency, the Bolivar, was forcast to hit 1 million percent inflation this year. Despite the crumbling economy, Mr. Maduro won reelection in May amid claims of election rigging. In Nicaragua, public outcry for the ouster of Mr. Ortega continues to mount amid a bloody crackdown on protesters that human rights groups claims includes illegal detentions and torture. Protesters took to the streets of Managua and other major cities in April, calling for reforms to Nicaragua’s state-run pension programs. Those demonstrations quickly evolved into calls for Mr. Ortega’s ouster. Hundreds of anti-government protesters reportedly have been killed by police and paramilitary groups loyal to the Ortega regime, including 14 killed last week during a raid by pro-Ortega forces. “The situation is serious. There is an undue attack by government forces that is causing bloodshed, more death and mourning in our country,” Alvaro Leiva, executive secretary of the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights, told al Jazzera. Unrest in Venezuela, Nicaragua and elsewhere in the Americas could create an opening for terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda to gain a foothold in the region, U.S. commanders warn. Before the rise of the terrorist group known as ISIS, Central and South American nations had primarily been targeted by Iran. Tehran had used the region’s smuggling and narcotics trafficking networks to raise funds for Shiite militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. While the threat of Islamic State splinter factions has hammered European countries the hardest, the group has made efforts to expand into Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The number of Islamic State fighters and affiliated extremists is “in the hundreds” across Central and South America, U.S. Southern Command chief Adm. Kurt Tidd said in 2016, as ISIS was on the verge of losing its Middle East capitals of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria. “Radicalization within our region is occurring.” U.S. officials and regional experts say the problem will only metastasize as Islamic State continues to lose ground in the Mideast and its fleeing fighters and top commanders look to press the group’s movement elsewhere across the globe, including Central and South America. Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2021 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.<doc-sep>James Mattis, the U.S. secretary of defense, will meet with the administration of new Colombian President Iván Duque this week in Bogotá. The visit will be a part of the secretary’s larger trip to South America, which began today with a first stop in Brazil. Mattis will continue on to meet with officials in Argentina and Chile before making a final layover in Colombia, which has been the United States’ closest ally on the continent for the past two decades. Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaking last year at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. (Credit: Department of Defense / U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr) As noted in a U.S. Department of Defense statement, the White House, under President Donald Trump, has dubbed 2018 as the “Year of the Americas.” “The secretary’s trip underscores the department’s strong defense ties with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia,” stated the defense department. It added that “these relationships are critical to a collaborative, prosperous and secure Western Hemisphere.” Despite the rhetoric, the Trump administration has spent much of its time in office antagonizing and adding tensions to its relations with various Latin American nations as well as Canada. The near-quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement remains in limbo, Trump continues to threaten building a wall on the Mexican border, migrants seeking asylum from Central America continue facing “zero tolerance” detention in addition to the widespread outrage of the now-discontinued family separation process, and the formerly thawed relations with Cuba have generally reverted to the status quo of the previous century. In South America, Trump has castigated Colombia for failing to halt the rise of coca production — even threatening to decertify the Andean nation as partner in the “war on drugs” — and shocked leaders across the region by suggesting that the U.S. would consider military intervention in Venezuela. In his public comments during the campaign, Duque seems keenly aware of the more-tenuous nature of bilateral relations between the two countries. He has pledged to take a more hardline approach to eradicating coca fields through aerial fumigation, something his predecessor former President Juan Manuel Santos halted while citing health concerns potentially caused by the herbicide. In line with his campaign pledges, Duque also said in his inauguration speech that he would move to make “corrections” to the government’s peace accord with the leftist guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. While Trump himself has seldom mentioned the peace process in public comments, White House officials and certain members of the U.S. Congress, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, have expressed skepticism that the deal was in the best interest of Colombians. DON'T MISS OUT: The only English-language Colombia news that's strictly business, markets, & investment! Join global executives & investors by subscribing to our FREE weekly updates I agree to have my personal information transferred to MailChimp ( I agree to have my personal information transferred to MailChimp ( more information ) DISCLAIMER: Protección de Datos Personales Artículo 15 de la Constitución Política de Colombia, ley 1581 de 2012 y decreto 1377 de 2013. We will never spam you or share your email address ¡Nunca Jamás! Share the news! Facebook Twitter Print WhatsApp LinkedIn Skype Related Share your thoughts: comments<doc-sep>BRASILIA, Brazil — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday he is satisfied that creating a Space Force as a separate military service is the right way to reorganize the Pentagon's approach to space. Mattis, who last year opposed moves in Congress to create a separate space service, said his emphasis then was on establishing a consensus about what the Pentagon's space problem is before recommending a way to fix it. "I was not against setting up a Space Force," he told reporters flying with him to Brazil to begin his first tour of South America as defense secretary. "What I was against was rushing to do that before we could define the problem" that needed solving. This, he said, is why he pushed back against efforts in Congress to create a Space Force. In a letter to Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, in July 2017, Mattis wrote, "I do not wish to add a separate service that would likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations." Mattis' comments Sunday were his first since Vice President Mike Pence announced on Thursday that the Trump administration would push for creation of the Space Force as a sixth, separate military service by 2020. The Pentagon first will establish a Space Command to oversee and coordinate space operations and a Space Development Agency to accelerate the development and fielding of space technologies for the military. It also will build up larger numbers of servicemen and servicewomen with expertise in space operations. "We're in favor of war-fighting capability organized along the lines of what the president laid out," Mattis said, referring to President Donald Trump's instruction in June that the Pentagon begin the process of creating a Space Force that would be "separate but equal" to the Air Force, which currently manages most of the military's space operations. Mattis said he has been discussing this with Trump and Pence since the first month of the administration. Critics of making space a separate branch of the military say it would entail more bureaucracy and cost. Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said on Thursday that the Pentagon does not yet know how much it will cost but that it would be in the billions of dollars. Shanahan said the Pentagon would submit a legislative proposal for a Space Force early next year as part of its fiscal 2020 budget request. Mattis was in Brazil to discuss a range of defense issues, including mutual security threats. Later in the week, he is scheduled to make the first visit to Argentina by a U.S. defense secretary since 2005. He also will visit Chile and Colombia.<doc-sep>
RIO DE JANEIRO — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a pitch on Tuesday to Brazil for building a closer defense partnership with the United States, including in space research. Speaking to military students at Brazil’s senior war college in Rio de Janeiro, Mattis encouraged them to remember and follow their nation’s long tradition of working with the U.S. military, including as allies in World War II. Mattis' visit reflected his emphasis on strengthening alliances, demonstrating U.S. concern about instability in Venezuela, and countering the influence of China and Russia. Mattis emphasized U.S. interest in partnering with Brazil in space research, an area in which China has shown growing influence in South America. The Chinese operate a space center in the Patagonia region of Argentina. "We choose Brazil not because it lies along the equator in a happy accident of geography, but because we want to work with Brazilians — our hemispheric neighbor whose values we share politically, as well as your impressive technological orientation," he said. "Others cannot credibly say the same." Mattis was referring to Brazil's Alcantara space center. It's location near the equator is advantageous for space launches because the closer a launch is to the equator, the more velocity the rocket gets from the Earth's rotation. Brazil's Defense Minister Joaquim Silva e Luna, left, walks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, after their meeting in Brasilia on Monday. (Eraldo Peres/AP) Mattis made no direct mention of political tensions in the U.S., but he did offer what he called personal observations about defending one’s nation. × Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Early Bird Brief - a daily roundup of military and defense news stories from around the globe. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Early Bird Brief. "In defending our people's 'right to democracy,' keep faith as you deal with the human contradictions and the natural polarities that exist everywhere in the world," he said. "Where I come from in the American west, we have a saying: 'Ride for the brand.' It means loyalty only counts when there are 100 reasons not to be loyal. You do this daily, by imposing reason over impulse in extremely hard circumstances, and so much rests upon your shoulders." This is Mattis’s first trip to South America as Pentagon chief. He told the war college students the U.S. is “thinking long term” in Latin America. "The United States seeks to earn your trust daily; we want to be your partner of choice, especially if trouble looms - when refugee flows must be addressed, when a shipping disaster happens in a South American navy, when threats to your sovereignty or way of life manifest," he said in his prepared remarks. During a question-and-answer session with his audience after his speech, Mattis pushed back politely against a civilian’s expression of concern that by creating a U.S. Space Force the Trump administration is opening the door to militarizing space. "We don't intend to militarize space, however, we will defend ourselves in space, if necessary," he said, adding, "We have no intention of initiating operations in space." Later this week Mattis will visit Argentina, Chile and Colombia.