Intervention, Regional Security and Militarization in the Caribbean 1979-1986
BOOTS, BOOTS, BOOTS: Intervention, regional security and militarization in the Caribbean 1979-1986
Humberto García Muñiz – MILITARISM SERIES 2
U.S. Military Aid to the Caribbean
Nevertheless, what has marked a new stage in the security policy of Trinidad and Tobago was its inclusion in the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) in 1985 with an allocation of $50,000. For the first time ever, Trinidad became a recipient of a U.S. military aid program, becoming the last country in the Anglophone Caribbean to fall into the net. According to Figure 3, Trinidad’s allocation will be the same for 1986.
According to Figure 4, from 1980 to 1983, 286 members of the Anglophone Caribbean security forces received training under the IMET Program. If a minimum figure of 400 members of the Special Service Units (SSUs) of the island members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) that were trained is added to this number, then at least over 680 men have received training, and the total has to be larger if the defense forces from Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Guyana and now Trinidad are included.
Another surprise is undoubtedly the inclusion of Suriname in this program; additional proof of the right turn of the opportunistic dictatorial regime of Desi Bouterse after the invasion of Grenada. In June 1983, Brazil agreed to provide arms, equipment, and training to the Surinamese army. Early that same month, the House and Senate Intelligence committees of the U.S. Congress rejected a CIA plan to depose Bouterse.
In the cases of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, because of their long-term relation with the U.S. military establishment, certain tendencies can be pinpointed besides the obvious one: the intensification of military assistance under Reagan. Nevertheless, in the case of Haiti, it must be noted that under Carter’s administration, there was an increase in the number of military personnel trained in the U.S., while at the same time the administration was supposedly pressuring the Duvalier regime for its continuous violations of human rights.
Even though a detailed analysis of U.S. military assistance programs in the Anglophone Caribbean will not be part of this work, a reference to the IMET Program is of vital importance since its purpose is to establish relationships and ties between the U.S. military establishment and the Caribbean security forces, with all the political and ideological connotations this carries. In addition, it creates a homogenization of the various security forces in the Anglophone Caribbean. Let’s take a look at the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s evaluation of the program:
IMET has provided many benefits for the United States by building shared objectives of collective security with recipient states. The training environment gives the U.S. the opportunity to establish ties with future military and political leaders around the world. It is also an ideal opportunity to offer students a personal appreciation of U.S. interests, attitudes, and way of life while influencing allied and friendly forces toward pursuit of mutual readiness and interoperability goals. The quality of U.S. professional education programs is highly regarded in the international community, and foreign graduates of U.S. schools often rise to positions of responsibility and authority within their own government. IMET grants are a relatively inexpensive way for the U.S. to gain influence with these governments and in some cases can be more effective than relatively high-cost equipment transfers. The returns from this program, however, do not accrue fully in the short term. Rather, benefits from IMET tend to grow through the years as foreign graduates of U.S. military schools achieve positions of greater importance and influence in their governments.
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