In Latin America and Asia, Canada Supports the US Government’s New Cold War

 

Over the past few weeks, two events have occurred that seem unrelated, but are deeply interconnected.

First, the US government dispatched roughly 1,000 military personnel to Peru to participate in a joint military exercise between June and August. Their arrival coincides with the return of pro-democracy protests aimed at applying pressure to the unelected right-wing government of Dina Boluarte (who took power after elected President Pedro Castillo’s removal in December 2022).

Second, Ottawa halted its cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank comprised of 106 member states, alleging that it is “dominated by [Chinese] Communist Party members.”

Both of these events shine a light on the nature of Canadian foreign policy in the current geopolitical context.

Not only have Canadian officials offered no condemnation of the Boluarte government’s repression of Indigenous-led protests, which has killed almost 70 protestors and injured thousands—Ottawa has also said nothing about the US government sending troops to Peru shortly before the reactivation of anti-Boluarte demonstrations.  (more...)

In Latin America and Asia, Canada Supports the US Government’s New Cold War