Changing of the Guard: It’s Time for Washington to Strengthen SOUTHCOM
Commentary by Wilder Alejandro Sánchez and Ryan C. Berg
Published October 23, 2024
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) will soon experience a changing of the guard. On November 7, U.S. Navy vice admiral Alvin Holsey will assume command of SOUTHCOM from Army general Laura Richardson. During her time at the helm of SOUTHCOM, General Richardson carried out several initiatives to strengthen relations with U.S. allies and partners throughout the Western Hemisphere.
With a new commander in Miami and a new administration coming in Washington, it is time for U.S. policymakers to (finally) provide SOUTHCOM with the assets it needs to fully perform its mission. With an area of responsibility encompassing 31 countries and 12 dependencies, the Caribbean Sea, and waters in the Eastern Pacific and South Atlantic down to Antarctica, SOUTHCOM has much to do with limited resources. The change of leadership and the elevation to Service Component Command in mid-September of the U.S. Air Force Southern (AFSOUTH), the air component of SOUTHCOM, should encourage the next administration to engage more actively with SOUTHCOM.
Compared to other geographic combatant commands, SOUTHCOM is in a relatively ideal situation. There is no SOUTHCOM equivalent to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a volatile geopolitical situation comparable to the Middle East, or a China with direct territorial ambitions. Latin America and the Caribbean had not experienced an interstate war since 1995 when Peru and Ecuador shared brief hostilities. There are no nuclear powers in the Western Hemisphere besides the United States, and the probability of interstate warfare remains minimal. Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro regularly threatens Washington and has an ongoing border dispute with neighboring Guyana, but even then, the likelihood of Caracas starting a war of aggression is unlikely in the current circumstances.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/changing-guard-its-time-washington-strengthen-southcom
