As populist movements grow stronger in Latin America, threatening US financial
interests as well as the standing of right-wing US political allies in the region, the
"war on drugs" is becoming an increasingly central part of US counterinsurgency efforts.
It allows for more training of foreign security forces through the private sector -
away from Congressional oversight--and a deployment of personnel from US war corporations.
"Look at behaviour of the US president and members of his team, their words are like those
of the mentally ill," he said on Tuesday. "Sometimes they threaten, and sometimes they ask for help,
it's like mad people staggering to and fro."
The leaders of 12 South American nations have formed a regional body aimed at boosting economic
and political integration in the region. At a summit in Brazil, they signed a treaty which created
the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).