In Latin America, more and more countries are governed by the extreme left. Four of the region’s leaders have decided to create an alliance to confront the advance of socialism and attacks on democracy. The Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, and Ecuador have joined together to create the Alliance for Development in Democracy. The initiative has attracted the attention of different U.S. senators, both from the Republican and Democratic parties, who see this alliance as a way to strengthen relations with United States allies in the region and to counteract Chinese influence in Latin America.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jim Risch (D-Idaho), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), have introduced a resolution supporting the Alliance for Development in Democracy, expressing their concern about the increasing presence of enemies of the United States in Latin America and highlighting their interest in strengthening alliances with these countries to defend democracy.
"The Department of Defense and the Department of State have repeatedly emphasized that the economic encroachment of the Government of the People's Republic of China into the Western Hemisphere is coercive and represents an acute threat to the national security of the United States and of allies of the United States in the Western Hemisphere," the resolution reads.
Furthermore, in the document, the senators affirm that the alliance made by these Latin American countries provides a "counterweight to the growing influence of autocratic and anti-United States forces in the Western Hemisphere." They also ask President Biden to work with these countries to find joint solutions on migration and the fight against drugs.
Introducing the resolution, Senator Cruz said, "In the last few years, countries across Latin America who were once among America’s closest democratic allies have pivoted away from the United States towards Russia and the Chinese Communist Party. Meanwhile the countries in the Alliance for Development in Democracy have coalesced to promote a freer and more prosperous Western Hemisphere, and to not just maintain but bolster their ties to the United States."
