Trump's South American Crisis

China and Russia are quietly taking over South America. Trump wants them out. Let's look at three flash points that could drag the US into allout war. Welcome to America Uncovered. I'm Chris Chapel. Good news everybody, the war is over. Peace forever. Which war you might ask? Why the most important one? The console wars. With the introduction of Halo Combat Evolved for the PlayStation, complete with crossplatform multiplayer, GameStop officially announced the end to this decadesl long conflict, which has pit brother against brother, Xbox and soy, Nintendo and Sonic Cells. The White House graciously joined the celebration, proclaiming power to the player. GameStop gave President Trump and Vice President Vance much due recognition for their role in this historic peace deal. Okay, maybe that one's a little creepy. But where one more ends, another begins. Maybe things are heating up in South America. After decades of neglect, America's rivals, namely China and Russia, have set up shop all over the region. Should a major conflict break out, the US's soft underbelly could be completely exposed. Think the Panama Canal, the Florida Strait, and US bases scattered all across the Caribbean. And with tensions rising in Europe and Asia, Trump and the military are worried. But that doesn't mean the US is helpless. Here's the top three regional flash points and how the US plans to tackle them. Starting with Argentina. Threat level moderate. In the early 20th century, Argentina was the seventh richest nation on Earth, richer than France, Italy, or Japan. The vast fertile pampas plains were known as the grainery of the world. And Argentine beef was prized for its quality all across Europe. British railway investments helped Argentina's liberal government maintain this export economy, balanced budgets, and a strong, stable currency. But soon after World War II, things took a turn for the worst. In 1946, Juan Piran came to power. He introduced a new ideology, piranism, a strange mix of socialism and fascism, and turned Argentina's economy inward. He nationalized industries and introduced price controls, wage controls, and taxes on agriculture to pay for a massively expanded welfare state. This scared off foreign investment and drained Argentina's reserves. It was an economic disaster. To make matters worse, Pon's policies didn't end with his dictatorship. Pinist policies would go on to win elections for decades to come. And even when opposition parties took power, they found it almost impossible to undo the system he created. As a result, Argentina has defaulted on its debts seven times in the last 80 years. That's about one major financial crisis every decade. Trapped in this endless cycle of debt, Argentina reached out to foreign powers, chief among them, China. Argentina was quick to hop on board with China's belt and road initiative and sought entry into Chinese bricks alliance under its former parinis president Christina Fernandez Ditner. They even allowed China's PLA aerospace force to set up a massive radio station on a 50-year lease. But perhaps most importantly, in 2009, Kitchener established a currency swap agreement with Beijing. This means that Argentina could exchange its pesos for Chinese UN at a fixed rate and use that money to pay for Chinese imports. This gave Beijing tremendous sway over the country and its economy. At this rate, China was set to gain a strangle hold over the southern cone. But to everyone's surprise, in 2023, Argentina elected Javier Mille, a libertarian anti-communist hardliner and personal friend of Donald Trump. He's basically what you would get if you put Ron Paul and Rod Stewart into the teleporter from the fly. And since his election, Mille has been taking a chainsaw to Peron's system and drawing closer to the United States. He formally renounced Argentina's plan to join bricks, saying he would not do business with communists. Plus, his government has announced plans to wind down their currency swap to zero by the middle of next year. And in return, the US is extending its own 20 billion currency swap deal to Argentina while quadrupling its beef imports to help prop up Argentina's economy. So to keep China out, the US is doing everything in its power to keep Millle in. And seems to be going pretty well with Millie's party winning by a landslide in Sunday's election. So far so good. That's one less country in China's camp. But what about our next country, Colombia? Threat level rising. Throughout the Cold War, Colombia was a close ally to the United States. It was the only South American country to send troops to fight alongside the USA during the Korean War. It was also a founding member of the US-led Organization of American States with its first conference held in Colombia's capital. And unlike most countries in the region, Colombia was largely able to avoid a slide into dictatorship, remaining both democratic and anti-communist. But still, Colombia had its problems. For decades, the country was plagued by groups that participated in the Simone Bolivar Gerilla Coordinating Board or CGSB, an umbrella group encompassing several communist militias and narot terrorists like FARC and the ELN. They received training, weapons, and funding from Cuba, a Soviet satellite. And among those terrorist groups was the M19 movement. In 2022, an M19 veteran, Gustavo Pro, was elected as Colombia's first leftist president. But despite leaving his career as a lefty gerilla behind, his outlook hasn't changed much. According to Colombia's former defense minister, Pro has dismantled the country's alliance with the US. So, if Colombia's friendship with America has ended, who's going to be Colombia's new best friend? Well, since the Soviet Union no longer exists, I guess he'll have to settle for the next best thing, China. Petro visited China earlier this year alongside several other leftist South American leaders. There he joined China's Belt and Road Initiative, sought entry to the BRICS New Development Bank, and offered to buy Chinese fighter jets. While he was there, Pro also visited the local Huawei facility. This came less than a month after the People's Republic donated 470 computers to Colombia's foreign ministry. Surely, this won't have any consequences down the line. It's also tiresome. I mean, if you're going to give away your country's security to the CCP, you might as well just make she the president. Would be the first time a South American country was led by an Asian guy. But it doesn't end with just China. Petro has opened up trade and investment with Venezuela's narco regime. Supporting the drugfueled mafia state next door is bad enough, but similar events are playing out in Colombia itself. To keep things brief, pro has taken what he calls a total peace approach to drugs. It's similar to what we saw in Mexico under Amllo or Bolivia under Eva Morales. Rather than fighting the cartels and burning their cocoa plants, you just kind of, you know, let them take over your country. According to the UN, Colombian cocaine production has increased with potential cocaine production increasing by 53% between 2022 and 2023, which is why the US recently descertified Colombia as a partner in the ongoing drug war and slashed Colombia's access to aid. Meanwhile, Pro and his family were personally sanctioned by the US over their alleged ties to the drug trade. Now, this may all sound like a lot of he said, she said, but I'll just raise one more point. Pro's ambassador put out a statement condemning American strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, which coincidentally came right after the US blew up a boat belonging to the ELN. You know, one of Pro's old comrades in the guerilla movement. Something to think about. But honestly, Colombia's dysfunctional narco state is a sideshow compared to our last country. Of course, I'm talking about Venezuela. Threat level critical. What can I say about Venezuela that hasn't already been said? We know the history of Venezuela. We know how it went from one of the richest countries in the world to a bankrupt, despotic hellhole on the verge of starvation under Hugo Chavez and Nicholas Maduro. We know about its deep strategic ties to Moscow, its all-weather partnership and dependence on China, and we all know about Venezuela's mafia regime, and how the government itself is basically a front for criminal cartels. I did a whole episode on that. Check it out. In short, Venezuela has become another Cuba, a degenerate proxy used by foreign powers to threaten America in its own backyard. And Trump has had enough. Since September, the US has carried out at least 10 strikes on suspected narot traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific. But that's just a taste of what's to come. The US looks like it's about to take the fight to Venezuela itself. Trump is considering plans to hit cocaine facilities within Venezuela. He's deployed an aircraft carrier strike group off Venezuela's coast along with elite nightstalker helicopter units, B1 bombers, and authorized the CIA to begin operations within the country. Maduro is, to put it lightly, a bit nervous. He made a rare English statement begging for peace. >> Not war, not war, not war. Just peace. Just peace. Just peace forever. Forever. Forever. Peace forever. >> No crazy worm. >> Peace forever. Oh, cool. He's also been playing metal slug. Now, of course, the question remains, can Trump actually strike targets within Venezuela? I mean, don't you need a declaration of war from Congress to do that? Well, Trump says, uh, no, actually, >> well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay, we're going to kill them. You know, they're going to be like dead. >> But seriously, is this legal? Can't the president just bomb a country without a declaration of war? Or at least congressional approval? Well, yeah. The last time America actually made a declaration of war was in 1942. And if you haven't noticed, America has bombed a heck of a lot of people since then. You've got Cambodia, Laos, Granada, Libya, Panama, Sudan, Afghanistan, Serbia. Remember Obama's drone strikes on Yemen? Hell, even Joe Biden hit countries like Syria, Iraq, and Somalia. None of which got approval from Congress. Honestly, it'd be weird if Trump didn't bomb someone without Congress giving the go-ahad. But don't worry, he's promised to work with Congress the moment he has Maduro's corpse in US custody. So, buckle up, kids. You're about to see the Monroe Doctrine in action. What do you think? Leave your comments below. I really do enjoy reading them and respond to as many of them as I can. Once again, I'm Chris Chapel. Thank you for watching America Uncovered.