United States Announces IV Fleet Resumes Operations Amid South American Suspicions

[Judi Lynn]

United States Announces IV Fleet Resumes Operations Amid South American Suspicions
Matthew Flynn | July 11, 2008

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP) americas.irc-online.org

In a region where there are virtually no terrorist groups seeking to attack the United States, or deployment or even development of nuclear arsenals, it is time for a civilian and not a military approach to define and lead U.S. foreign relations in Latin America. The announcement of the IV Fleet setting sail does not represent any major change in U.S. military activity, but it does reveal how the U.S. government's approach to Latin America can be an element of division in the hemisphere.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead announced on April 24 the re-deployment of the IV Fleet.1 He said that "e-establishing the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere, and signals our support and interest in the civil and military maritime services in Central and South America." Effective July 1, the new command structure will have operational responsibility for U.S. Navy ships that operate in the SouthCom area (see picture)—one of the six regions of the world that the Pentagon divides into unified commands.

Spokespersons for the U.S. Navy affirm that the announcement of the IV Fleet's redeployment does not imply new military assets to the region. "There has been some misperception that with the re-establishment of U.S. Fourth Fleet comes more ships to the region. In Navy culture the word 'fleet' can mean two things—a 'physical' fleet of ships or an 'organization' staffed to fulfill a planning and coordination mission. U.S. Fourth Fleet will be an organizational fleet," clarified Lieutenant Joe "Myers" Vasquez, U.S. Navy Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (SouthCom).2 The new organizational structure thus implies an additional duty for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command headquartered in Mayport, Florida. The IV Fleet will concentrate efforts on the fight against illicit trafficking and providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief, officials say.

But leaders from South America are not convinced. They point to the poor response of the U.S. government when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans as reason to question the official explanation. "The United States must have some information above and beyond what we know, which made them make this decision," said Venezuelan Rear Admiral César Augusto Manzano.3 The June headline for Le Monde Diplomatique's Brazil edition states "The Empire Strikes Back: Worried about the leftward drift of Latin American governments and the discovery of formidable oil reserves and abundance of natural resources, the United States restarts its IV Fleet."4 While Le Monde's headlines may appear as fear-mongering since no new military forces have been earmarked for deployment, it does call attention to suspicions that increased U.S. military presence aims at economic control over natural resources and political control to rein in South American efforts to chart a course less oriented to the United States. The Union of South American Nations (Unión de las Naciones del Sur—UNASUR) symbolizes this latest attempt.

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