US fleet on Latin American patrol

[tigershark]

US fleet on Latin American patrol
  The United States Fourth Naval Fleet has resumed operations off the Caribbean and the length of Latin America for the first time since 1950.

The US Department of Defense says the measure is aimed at building confidence and trust in the region by focussing on common threats.

But some leaders in the region are concerned by the move.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has dubbed the initiative the Fourth Fleet of intervention.

Cuban former President Fidel Castro has written that the aircraft carriers were a threat that would sow terror.

Fighting trafficking

Based in Florida, the fleet will include various ships, including aircraft carriers and submarines and will patrol waters from the Caribbean and along the length of Latin America's coastline.

   Re-establishing the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere
Admiral Gary Roughead
Chief of Naval Operations

The fleet will help fight drug traffickers and work on humanitarian and diplomatic exercises.

The head of the US Southern Command, Adm James Stavridis, told Congress in March that he supported plans for a fleet led by a nuclear aircraft carrier to back counter-terrorism operations.

"Re-establishing the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm Gary Roughead.

But the growing number of anti-US leaders in Latin America are asking questions about the new measure, says BBC Latin America correspondent Daniel Schweimler.

Washington has become concerned by increasing anti-US rhetoric and the build-up of military forces, especially in Venezuela, our correspondent adds.

The US Navy also has operational fleets in the Pacific, the Persian Gulf and off the coast of Asia.

The Fourth Fleet was created during the Second World War to combat German U-boats targeting merchant shipping lines in the South Atlantic.

But when the war ended the fleet was deemed to be no longer necessary and was disbanded in 1950.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7484039.stm

Published: 2008/07/01 20:31:56 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Source
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7484039.stm

[afterburnerlover]

i wish i would have seen this post b4 i made one of mine.

[AVIATOR]

This news is now 15 months old. I wonder what the "Obama" situation is there now?

[afterburnerlover]

the news i hear from all over,is that a lot of leaders see him as weak,like someone trying to fit in with the"cool" group. I don't like,or dislike him.Although i feal myself leaning towards the latter.I feal he is a Socialist in many ways.Weather that is good or bad is not for me to say.I like the strikes in Afghanistan.They've really been hitting them hard.But....he says,"ask for anything ,but more troops." That's not how you win a war.