Argentina: On 28-29 August the head of the US Southern Command (Southcom), US Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd, co-hosted the 2018 South American Defense Conference (Southdec) in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, along with Argentina’s chief commander of the armed forces, General Bari del Valle Sosa. A Southcom press release notes that military and civilian leaders from 11 nations took part in Southdec, a forum for dialogue among the region’s chiefs of defence, facilitating the exchange of ideas, experiences, and perspectives on security and defence issues, and promoting cooperative approaches to regional security. As well as representatives from the US and Argentina, those participating included officials from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Spain, which is taking part in Southdec for the first time. According to the Southcom press release Tidd remained in Argentina after Southdec and travelled to the Puerto Belgrano naval base in Buenos Aires province, on 30 August, where he visited the country’s maritime operations centre, which has led the internationally supported search for the crew of the disappeared Argentine submarine ARA San Juan.
Colombia: On 23 August the US Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it will deploy a hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, to Central America and South America in late September to begin a two-month humanitarian mission with stops in Colombia and elsewhere in the region. According to a DOD press release, “during the deployment, military medical personnel will work alongside partners to provide needed medical assistance according to the needs defined by each stop”. The Colombian government requested the support to relieve the pressure on the country’s national health system caused by the increased influx of migrants from Venezuela, who have been pouring into Colombia in their thousands to escape the economic crisis in their home country, which has produced severe shortages of basic good and medicines. This marks the sixth hospital ship deployment by the DOD to Latin America since 2007.
El Salvador: On 23 August the US government announced that it will “re-evaluate” its relationship with El Salvador following the decision announced on 20 August by El Salvador’s President Salvador Sánchez Cerén that his government was ending its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establishing formal relations with mainland China. In a press release, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that the US is gravely concerned by the Salvadorean government’s “receptiveness” to China’s apparent interference in the political concerns of a country in the West, which is cause for the US to rethink ties with the Central American nation. Sanders did not specify what consequences El Salvador might face. El Salvador becomes the latest in a list of Central American countries who have broken ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing, which include Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Panama.
Mexico: On 27 August the US and Mexican governments announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement to update the terms of North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). In a press statement US Vice President Mike Pence described the new agreement as “fair and reciprocal” and one that “will strengthen both nations’ economies”. Describing it as a “win for American ranchers, manufacturers, and auto workers”, Pence added that it “marks a new chapter between the US and Mexico – one built around friendship, security, commerce, and prosperity”. In the statement Pence said that both have agreed to new rules that will maintain duty free access for agricultural goods on both sides of the border as well as the elimination of non-tariff barriers and other steps to encourage more agricultural trade between the two countries. The vice president also noted that “unlike any previous bilateral trade deal, this agreement includes the strongest labour standards, and these requirements are fully enforceable”.
