Transnational organized crime is dissolving borders and disrupting the institutions essential to peace and prosperity. It is urgent that the Western Hemisphere’s heavyweights, Brazil and the United States, launch a regional alliance to confront global criminal networks and regimes that profit from disorder.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro can demonstrate his clout by convincing U.S. President Donald Trump that it’s good politics to defend values and institutions from transnational organized crime and bandit states. Just as an alliance was forged to counter the Soviet threat, today’s leaders must confront foes that are attacking democracy, the rule of law, honest commerce, and even social harmony.
Where the problem started
The seeds of this crisis were sown 20 years ago, when populist leaders in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador torpedoed an anti-drug alliance advanced by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and his Andean counterparts. To counter U.S. efforts, the Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chávez built corrupt financial institutions and criminal networks. Supported by Cuban advisers, Russian opportunists, and Chinese financiers, Chávez converted Venezuela into a narcostate that destabilizes every country around it.
This is not a battle between right and left, but between right and wrong. Transnational organized crime, with $2.2 trillion in annual revenue worldwide, is optimizing the supply chain of illicit goods to the North American market. It exploits regional currencies, banks, businesses, infrastructure, and communications networks.
For example, several governments in the Americas have wrestled with violent protests recently. Although this unrest is rooted in domestic grievances, there’s no doubt that subversive countries and groups with vast resources stand to benefit from a breakdown in political and social order. A community in the Americas committed to democracy with accountability and to equality of opportunity is far less likely to fall victim to the kind of violence and disruption that has done so much damage in recent months.
The time is right for responsible states to rebuild such a community. In Bolivia, Evo Morales -- the coca growers’ boss who became president in 1998 -- resigned last November after he was caught trying to steal a fourth term of dubious constitutionality. In Ecuador, President Lenin Moreno broke with his predecessor, who closed a U.S. antidrug facility in 2007 after allegedly receiving campaign funding from narcoguerrillas. Early last year, Moreno joined most countries in the region in rejecting the dictatorship in Venezuela, which responded by backing a violent uprising against him. Colombian president Ivan Duque is working to reverse the steep growth in coca production caused by his predecessor’s lenient policies. Duque also is adopting a hard line against guerrillas who are openly abetted by Venezuela’s narco-regime.
Brazil and the United States should stand behind law-and-order leaders and reinforce likeminded policies. An alliance advanced by a Latin American powerhouse would be well positioned to press the unorthodox and irascible president of Mexico and the untested leaders in Central America to pull their weight against global gangsters.
A new alliance could challenge neighbors to adopt best practices for dismantling criminal networks: finding, freezing, and seizing vast illegal fortunes while securing borders against gangsters and guns. Among the most trustworthy partners, the alliance could sponsor intelligence-sharing and law-enforcement operations across borders.
The effective defense of security and stability is more critical today to jumpstarting growth and creating jobs than are foreign aid or new trade accords. Perhaps the most urgent mission of this new alliance would be to rally willing governments to defeat Nicolás Maduro’s deadly narco-regime and facilitate broad and deep change in Venezuela.
However, this alliance shouldn’t be about law and order alone. Brazil and the United States can use this partnership to promote strong leaders at the Inter-American Development Bank and the Organization of American States who will advance democratic capitalism as the key to unlocking the region’s massive potential by defeating corruption and collectivism.
An alliance of free people in the Americas could never be neutral when it comes to the influence of Beijing. In recent decades, China bankrolled a rapacious dictatorship in Venezuela and helped Iran evade UN sanctions. A community of free nations could reject Beijing’s anticompetitive practices for capturing concessions and infrastructure projects. It could also favor secure architecture for 5G technology in the hemisphere.
This Brasilia-Washington initiative makes good sense. The two largest economies in the Americas have the most to gain from every government pulling its own weight to defend democracy, the rule of law, and the free market -- at home and on their doorstep.
The author was U.S. Ambassador to the OAS and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2001-05. He is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and his firm Visión Américas LLC represents U.S. and foreign clients. The views expressed are the author's own.
