A SECURE HEMISPHERE * U.S.
is required to provide incentives for
Venezuela
- Venezuelan economy depends on exporting
oil, and the realities of geography and logistics
make it inevitable that Venezuela will export its
oil to the US.
- Venezuela’s physical isolation – with the
Amazon to the south, the Caribbean
(dominated by the U.S. Navy) to the north and
a hostile and stable Colombia to the west
renders the country otherwise irrelevant.
Cuba
- Emergence of Pro-Soviet government under
Fidel Castro
- Became a centerpiece of U.S. strategy
BRAZIL AND THE ARGENTINE STRATEGY
Brazil
- World’s 8th largest economy
- Fifth largest country both in size and in
population
-Heavily oriented toward export: 2/3 are
primary commodities ( agricultural and mineral)
while 1/3 are manufactured products
- Latin America
- European Union
- Asia
- United States
Argentina
-Its geography is suited for development.
-It has adequate population and room for
more people
-It has a strong agricultural base and a
workforce capable of developing an industrial
base.
U.S. Perspective
- Brazil still needs to preserve its
investment capital for domestic use.
- Argentina has a long feared Brazilian
dominance, so given a choice between
Brazil and the United States, it will opt
for the latter.
American companies to invest in Argentina.
Mexico
- Like Cuba, Mexico is a special case in U.S.
relations, and the obvious reason is that it
shares the long U.S. border stretching from
Texas to California
- 1800- Mexico is far more developed and
sophisticated (and better armed) than the
United States at the time.
U.S. Territorial Expansion:
1. Louisiana Purchase
2. Seizing Texas
3. Waging the Mexican-American War
- Forced Mexico out of its holdings as far
north as today’s Denver and San
Francisco
United States faces two problems:
1. Mexico’s illegal export of
immigrant workers
2. Mexico’s illegal export of drugs
1. Mexico’s illegal export of immigrant
workers
* It is not a typical immigration
a. Mexico is adjacent to the United
States
b. Migrants are moving into a land that
once belonged to Mexico
* It requires minimal cultural
adjustment
* They have the option of
retaining their language and their
national identity
*Tension between the legal
border and the cultural border
2. Mexico’s illegal export of drugs
* The sale of narcotics rum from $ 25
billion to $ 40 billion a year (Unofficial records)
- the profit margin is almost 90%
Legal export- a profit margin of 10%
Example: Sale of $ 40 billion- the profit
will be $ 36 billion
Why?
1. Extremely low- cost agricultural
products
2. No payment of tax
3. Adjacent travel experience

Conclusion:
Drugs benefit the country more than violence
and lawlessness that harm it.

America’s Mexico Strategy

a. National Identity Card

-No one could be employed until his or
her employer will first cleared the card via the
sort of system currently used for credit card
transactions.
- Any alien without a card would be
deported
- Any employer who hired him or her
would arrest and charged with a
felony.
-The national card could be used to
track the movement of money and people- to
detect tax fraud as well as monitor political
organizations which could easily lead to
government abuse.

b. Legalization of Drugs
-The street price would plunge, the
economics of smuggling would collapse.
- The violence along the border driven
by all the money to be made would decline
precipitously.

Downfall:
-Unknown increase in the amount of
drug use and in the number of users.
- Existing users, no longer restricted by
price, would increase their indulgence
-Some individuals who are willing to use
drugs illegally would begin to use drugs once
they were decriminalized.