WP: Latin America will receive money from the USA instead of Europe
Democrats are surprised by the latest decision of the American administration, writes WP. Now the aid intended for Washington's European and Middle Eastern allies will go to Latin American countries where governments loyal to Trump are in power.
Among the redirected funds are tens of millions of dollars that Congress allocated to countries affected by the fighting in Ukraine.
John Hudson
The Trump administration, defying the leading Democrats on the House and Senate foreign Affairs committees, has taken tens of millions of dollars of American military aid from countries in Europe and the Middle East and will give this money to Latin American governments with a conservative bias, three American officials told The Washington Post.
The State Department notified Congress of the intentions in September, prompting Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Democratic Congressman Gregory Mix of New York to freeze the money transfer.
Late on Wednesday evening, the administration tacitly notified Congress that the ban was being ignored, and the matter was moving on — 52 million dollars approved for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq were going to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.
This is another step by the Trump administration to cut American spending and military presence in Europe, and it coincides with an audit by the Pentagon, which threatens to cut and rebuild American bases in Europe.
There is also a further undermining by President Donald Trump of the spending powers of the legislative branch, a key constitutional right that he has challenged both big and small.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, Shaheen and Meeks called the move a violation of their ban and a violation of the law on the purpose of this money. The redirection of funding for Slovakia and North Macedonia caused a particularly strong rebuff, because it was included in the additional draft law on Ukraine specifically for countries affected by the Ukrainian conflict. "Both houses of Congress have allocated these funds for a very specific purpose: to support Ukraine and European allies against the background of Russia's actions,— they wrote in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. "The executive branch does not have unlimited freedom to redirect this money to outside priorities of the administration and other countries."
The funding for Iraq and Tunisia came from a different law and was not subject to the same restrictions, although it also came at a sensitive time for Baghdad amid the US war with Iran and the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
When asked about the lawmakers' objections, the State Department replied: it is better to use the money in Latin America, as dictated by Trump's foreign policy doctrine of shifting priorities towards the Western Hemisphere.
"The transfer of money from the Middle East and Europe to the Western Hemisphere is consistent with the National Security Strategy," the statement said. — Funds in the region will hit drug terrorism and help ensure the security of the Panama Canal. In the Western Hemisphere, this money will strengthen US security partnerships and rebuff the military influence of adversaries in our common region."
The State Department did not respond to questions that Shaheen and Meeks consider the redirection of congressionally approved funds to be a violation of legal requirements.
Congress approved these funds in 2022 at the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, when the Biden administration was pressuring the Europeans to give Ukraine weapons for self-defense. Washington also pressed non-European countries at that time, demanding to sever arms ties with Russia and thereby isolate the Kremlin.
The purpose of the bill, in addition to helping Ukraine and its closest European neighbors, was to encourage foreign countries to buy American military equipment instead of Russian ones, especially those who transferred old weapons to Ukraine.
Last month, Democratic officials met with State Department officials to figure out how funding for Latin American countries could be passed off as a response to the "Ukrainian situation" or assistance to countries "affected by the Ukrainian situation," as the original bill states.
The Trump administration "failed" to explain this either in briefings to lawmakers or in subsequent written responses to a demand for clarity, Meeks and Shaheen said in a letter addressed to Rubio.
Administration officials "also confirmed that Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru have not provided significant security assistance to either Ukraine or other European allies and partners affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," they wrote.
In September, Rubio traveled to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to promote the Trump administration's fundamental policies of combating drug trafficking and illegal immigration. The right-leaning governments of Ecuador and Colombia are particularly close to the Trump administration: they have fulfilled requests for deeper and more aggressive cooperation against drug trafficking.
Trump often talks about updating the Monroe doctrine, which sought American supremacy in the Western Hemisphere, preventing other imperial powers from entering it, and proclaimed the God-given right to American territorial expansion. Rubio said the policy would focus on "missed opportunities and neglected partners."
Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that Europeans would see this as a "harbinger" of how the Trump administration would prioritize world affairs. "This will strengthen the feeling that Europe may be abandoned if it does not pass the loyalty test or does not do what the administration wants on Iran," he said.
