Photo / Hegemony Magazine

By: Roberto Morejón

In a blunt manner, a high-ranking officer of the U.S. Armed Forces, Laura Richardson, no less than the head of the Southern Command, bluntly blurted out that south of the Rio Grande extends a very attractive region because of, she said, its abundant natural resources.

Richardson spoke at an event of the Atlantic Council, one of the so-called think tanks with close ties to NATO, and perhaps because of the warmongering nature of her audience, she freed herself from diplomatic ties.

The uniformed woman confessed that the region is of interest to us because of its abundant resources, rare earth elements and the lithium triangle, a strategic area shared by Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

As the seasoned warrior thought that this factor was not enough, she added the reserves of oil, copper, gold, the Amazon and the existence of 31 percent of the world's fresh water.

That was the end of the inventory. Neither the peoples, their traditions and history, their culture and neighborhood, none of the above motivate Richardson's interest.

The untimely, challenging and revealing statement puts her country's politicians and thinkers on the spot about how they view Latin America.

In her own way, the high-ranking U.S. official put on the table the hackneyed thesis of the backyard, striking for its geostrategic position and natural advantages.

But it would be a mistake to think that the military hierarch is content only with what she said, since, according to press reports, she is said to have made an irreverent request to the countries of Our America.

The head of the U.S. Southern Command asked them to cede their Russian military equipment to Ukraine and Washington would replace it with U.S.-made equipment.

Laura Richardson did not speak about the sovereign decision of those countries to acquire wherever they wish the equipment of their interest because it seems that it is not among her priorities.

In this way, her country wants to transfer to this area of the Western Hemisphere the rivalry between powers, by which the US administrations and their NATO allies are making the world an increasingly insecure place.  

The double onslaught by the head of the Southern Command provoked, as was to be expected, bitter criticism, such as that of the Bolivian president, Luis Arce.

The president said: "We will not accept that anyone should claim our natural resources as if they were their own".

But, will she understand the strong reactions from positions attached to independence?

Surely not, because the Head of the Southern Command simply put back on the table the point of view of many theorists and practitioners of the Monroe Doctrine, not at all outdated, as she herself evidences.