US to divert military aid from European and Middle Eastern countries to allies in Latin America
Washington will allocate $52 million so ideologically aligned conservative administrations to combat ‘narco-terrorism’
The Donald Trump administration has diverted $52 million in military aid that had until now been delivered to allies in the Middle East and Europe, redirecting it to countries in Latin America governed by ideologically aligned conservative administrations. The State Department’s notice to Congress comes just one week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visits to Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, during which he pledged new aid to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking, two of the main priorities of U.S. foreign policy.
The military aid cuts will affect Tunisia and Iraq in the Middle East, and Slovakia and North Macedonia — both NATO members — in Europe. Those tens of millions of dollars will be redirected to the countries Rubio visited last week and to Panama, the State Department said. The announcement coincided with a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday in which the new ambassadors from Ecuador and Colombia presented their credentials.
The State Department said the funds used in the Americas will be aimed at combating “narco-terrorism” within Washington’s “backyard” and will help guarantee the security of the Panama Canal, which Trump expressed interest in controlling during the early months of his second term.
The State Department also noted that over the past decade Congress allocated to the Middle East “around 80% of foreign military financing funds.” Foreign Military Financing (FMF) provides U.S. money for recipient countries to purchase weapons manufactured in the United States.
That, the department said, does not align with the current administration’s foreign policy, which declares Latin America the region of the world of greatest interest to its national security. According to the State Department, the new funds will allow recipient countries to reduce their dependence on military supplies from “adversaries” of the United States.
The department says the American continent has generally been neglected historically when it comes to receiving military funds. “These funds will prevent adversaries from establishing strategic footholds in our hemisphere,” it said, a veiled reference to China, which over the past two decades has become the main trading partner of many countries in the region.
The four countries benefiting from the fund reallocation have agreed to join the operational framework of the Shield of the Americas, an alliance of conservative-led countries with which the Trump administration aims to fight organized crime and, above all, drug trafficking in Latin America. The program could also include the development of joint military operations on the territories of those countries, similar to the operation carried out last spring with Ecuadorian forces.
The decision also coincides with a series of steps by the Trump administration to reduce its military footprint in Europe, both in funding and troop contributions. The U.S. president has complained that allied countries refused to help in the war he ordered against Iran and has criticized them for, in his view, not investing enough in defense.
Alongside the freezing of key programs for European defense, such as the deployment of Tomahawk missiles to be stationed in Germany, the measures include the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany and the refusal to make key equipment available to the Old Continent, such as aerial refueling tankers or submarines.
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