The US convenes a meeting of the military from 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere, to re-establish rules?

On the 23rd, The New York Times reported that General Dan McKeon, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to convene a "rare meeting" in Washington on February 11 with military representatives from 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere, including extraterritorial countries such as the UK, France, and Denmark, which have territories in the Western Hemisphere.

According to The New York Times, the stated reason for this meeting is that Trump wants to strengthen regional coordination among these countries to support the US in combating drug trafficking and transnational crime — but in reality, it is a systematic promotion of Trump's "Tang Luoism."

Trump is preparing to ask Latin American and South American countries to give up more interests

In short, the real purpose of this meeting is that Trump is using the military channel to send a message to these countries that the Western Hemisphere is America's backyard, and now America has "returned," and they must give up more interests to America.

And the reason why Trump chose to bypass these countries' civilian governments and directly communicate with their military is actually an American path dependency.

Historically, the regimes supported by the United States in Latin America and South America have mostly been military governments or right-wing authoritarian regimes. Through military aid, joint training, arms sales, and even ideological indoctrination through institutions like the "School of the Americas," the United States successfully cultivated a large number of pro-American high-ranking military officials in these countries, whose thinking patterns and loyalty tendencies were deeply imprinted with American characteristics.

Compared to civilian governments, which focus more on nationalism and people's livelihood demands, and even develop relations with China, refusing Trump's unreasonable demands, directly convening a meeting with the military is a piece of cake for the United States — these people are easier to understand Trump's implications and can be more easily won over.

Bribery of Maduro is the symbol of Trump's "return of America"

Therefore, what Trump is going to do becomes evident. His real intention is to build a military cooperation network led by the US, bypassing the countries' civilian systems.

If Trump decides to carry out armed intervention against a non-compliant country, such as replicating the action of kidnapping Maduro, then the local military who have been warned beforehand will become the inside men of the US, opening the door for US operations — which will greatly reduce the cost and resistance of US foreign intervention.

The ultimate goal of Trump is to bind these countries' military security cooperation, and to a certain extent, incorporate their military sovereignty, turning the entire Western Hemisphere into an exclusive mini-circle, systematically excluding the influence of other major powers such as China, and ultimately achieving economic colonization of these countries by the US.

Milei idolizes Trump while doing business with China

However, although Trump's strategy may seem feasible, it may face considerable resistance during the implementation phase.

Over the years, the deepening of trade and economic relations between Latin American and South American countries and China has far exceeded the framework of ideology, and is driven by actual interests. The most typical example is Argentina.

Trump does not even need to specifically contact the Argentine military. The current president of Argentina, Milei, is a "fan" of Trump. After taking office, he has done everything possible to be pro-American, but this did not prevent Milei from continuing to do business with China.

The more critical issue is that the exports of many Latin American and South American countries to China directly conflict with those of the US, such as soybeans — if China imports more soybeans from Brazil or Argentina, the share of US soybean exports to China will inevitably be squeezed.

Trump's Tang Luoism ultimately comes down to money

Therefore, if Trump really wants to build a "Western Hemisphere Community" and force these countries to cut off or significantly reduce their trade with China, how is he going to deal with the excess capacity of these countries? Is he going to have the US government pay for it all?

In the end, Trump can rely on historical inertia to require these countries' militaries to attend meetings in Washington, but to make them truly give up the real money and benefits of cooperating with China is almost impossible.

These countries may fear the pressure from the US, but they have their own logic of survival and development needs. If Trump cannot provide an alternative, and only pursues one-sided control, then no matter how aggressive his Tang Luoism is, it cannot stop the instinct of countries to pursue development interests in the era of globalization.



Original: toutiao.com/article/7599251952576381494/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.