IPD: Happy Anniversary Kazakhstan: What Will the New Year Bring?

"Happy Anniversary Kazakhstan: What Will the New Year Bring?"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
25 December, 2018
International Policy Digest
Originally published: https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/12/25/happy-anniversary-kazakhstan-what-will-the-new-year-bring/


The Republic of Kazakhstan celebrated its 27th independence anniversary on December 16th. This past year has brought a number of significant foreign policy-related successes for the Central Asian state. Hence, it is mandatory for those of us that work on international affairs to monitor Astana in 2019 as it approaches three decades of independence.

Achievements GaloreSince the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kazakh government has carried out an ambitious policy not only to promote internal development and expand its international presence. Astana’s modus operandi is to achieve short-term goals and also carry out long-term strategies; this way of thinking has, without a doubt, helped the country gain a prominent status as a Central Asian regional power and an actor in its own right in global affairs. Case in point, the current goal is for Kazakhstan to become one of the world’s 30 most developed nations by 2050, which would help it gain membership to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The country is also seeking to attract more extra-regional investors via the partial privatization of some of its more valuable state-run enterprises. For example, in mid-November, as many as 15 percent of shares belonging to Kazatomprom, the world’s biggest producer of uranium, were open for trade at the London Stock Exchange and the Astana International Financial Centre’s Astana Stock Exchange.

Trade with other nations reached interesting levels in recent years. For example, according to the US Trade Representative, “the U.S. trade balance with Kazakhstan shifted from a goods trade surplus of $380 million in 2016 to a goods trade deficit of $239 million in 2017.” Due to space considerations, we will not analyze this dramatic shift, but simply highlight this discrepancy and stress that bilateral trade relations should be closely monitored. On the other hand, trade with South Korea appears to be gaining momentum, as Kazakh Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Bakyt Dyussenbayev, has declared that “we expect that the final figures for 12 months [for 2018] will approach $3 billion.” Similarly, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Kazakhstan is a member, finalized in December a temporary agreement on the formation of a free trade zone between the EUAU and Iran, which could help promote Kazakh trade with its Caspian Sea neighbor.

Finally, it is worth noting that Kazakhstan is the first ever Central Asian state to hold a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council (2017-2018) and was the rotating president in January 2018. The country also holds important positions in other organizations, like for example the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, where Kazakh national Baghdad Amreyev is the current secretary general.

How will Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy Look at 28?
As the Central Asian state begins its journey towards turning 28 years of age, there are a few initiatives to look forward to. One important development is that Kazakhstan has deployed 120 peacekeepers to the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), after receiving training via the U.S. Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). The Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Company will operate under the command of the Indian Army’s JAT Infantry Battalion stationed there. Kazakhstan already participates in other UN missions but at a much lower scale, for example, it currently has deployed four experts on a mission to the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

The UNIFIL deployment is a significant development as Kazakhstan has already made a name for itself in the mediation of conflicts – for example Kazakhstan held a round of peace talks over Iran’s nuclear program back in 2013; moreover, an agreement that may put an end to the Caspian Sea dispute was signed in the Kazakh city of Aktau this past August. Hence, Astana can now proclaim that it is not only trying to bring peace via negotiations but also by actively participating in UN peace missions. Should the Kazakh Peacekeeping Company perform professionally in Lebanon, this may set the tone for future Kazakh participation in other UN missions.

Additionally, while this is still a couple of years away, Kazakhstan will host the WTO’s Ministerial Conference from 8-11 June 2020. This is significant given the ongoing shifts in global commerce, such as the trade wars between global powers; the appearance of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11 – the successor to the TPP sans the U.S.); the USMCA (the new NAFTA); figuring what European trade will look like if Brexit occurs; not to mention China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which will continue to expand in 2019. Given all these issues, the 2020 WTO meeting in Astana will be a forum where changing global trade will be discussed.

Education: Always a Pillar for Development
As mentioned in this author’s 8 October commentary, “Reforming Kazakhstan’s Education System and its Foreign Policy Implications,” the October 5th speech by President Nursultan Nazarbayev is a milestone in Kazakhstan’s educational sector. During his remarks, the Kazakh leader proclaimed that the Central Asian nation’s education system will be reformed, and “expenditures on education, science and healthcare [will be increased] from all sources up to 10% from the GDP within 5 years.” The country has a fairly good higher education system, including Nazarbayev University and the “Bolashak” program –which provides scholarships for Kazakh students to study abroad and then return to work in the country, like the Fulbright Program– however greater financial resources are always welcome. Around 11 thousand specialists have been educated in Western universities via Bolashak, including several senior Kazakh policymakers.

Adding to these programs is the goal of making the country a trilingual state: Kazakh, Russian and now English. During an December 11th speech at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, for an event titled “Future Calling: Infrastructure Development in Central Asia” the Kazakhstan ambassador to the US, Erzhan Kazykhanov, explained that the Kazakh government has changed the national alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin in order to facilitate learning computer science, and is also fomenting the teaching of English by training Kazakh teachers in rural areas and also bringing English-speakers to temporarily teach in Kazakh schools as well.


Increasing the budget of the education system, supporting the Bolashak program and furiously supporting English-education will be the pillars for the future of Kazakhstan, whether it plans to celebrate 27, 28 or 100-years of independence.

Final Thoughts: From Concerns to Promise
Kazakhstan, like the other post-Soviet republics, was in a complicated situation when it achieved independence back in the early 1990s when there was a general sense of pessimism towards the future. Even more, there was an ever-present possibility that the country could disintegrate even more à la USSR – there were precedents for this hypothesis, as a short-lived separatist war took place in Moldova in 1992, while Nagorno-Karabakh saw full-fledged violence that same year until 1994.

Kazakhstan has certainly bounced back from that troubling period. There are several outstanding issues that need to be addressed. However, this country has managed in record time to become Central Asia’s leader and is making a name for itself in global affairs.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.

CIMSEC: USNS Comfort’s Latest Humanitarian Mission Throughout Latin America

"USNS Comfort’s Latest Humanitarian Mission Throughout Latin America"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
The Southern Tide
Center for International Maritime Security
17 December 2018
Originally published: http://cimsec.org/usns-comforts-latest-humanitarian-mission-throughout-latin-america/39234

The Southern Tide
Written by W. Alejandro Sanchez, The Southern Tide addresses maritime security issues throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It discusses the challenges regional navies face including limited defense budgets, inter-state tensions, and transnational crimes. It also examines how these challenges influence current and future defense strategies, platform acquisitions, and relations with global powers.

“My plain and simple message to our friends in the region is ‘the United States is a reliable and trustworthy security partner….Latin America and the Caribbean are not our backyard. It’s our shared neighborhood… And like the neighborhood … where I grew up, good neighbors respect each other’s sovereignty, treat each other as equal partners with respect, and commit to a strong neighborhood watch.”  –Vice Admiral Craig Faller, USN,  before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Sep. 25, 2018. 

By W. Alejandro Sanchez

Introduction
USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) has finished another deployment to the Western Hemisphere as part of the Enduring Promise initiative. The U.S. hospital ship’s latest tour took it to Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru where it provided free medical assistance to thousands of individuals in need. This is an example of medical diplomacy at work and a great initiative to improve U.S.-Latin American relations at a time when more cohesion among governments in the Western Hemisphere is needed.

Current Deployment
Comfort is a large vessel, with a length of 894 feet and a beam of 105 feet, the same as its sister ship, USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) – the two are converted San Clemente-class super tankers. According to the U.S. Navy, each platform “contain[s] 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a 1,000 bed hospital facility, digital radiological services, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan and two oxygen producing plants,” along with helicopter decks. Hence, the vessel is able to provide for vast numbers of patients simultaneously with different services. The vessel’s most recent tour, the sixth time that it has been deployed to the region, lasted 11 weeks.

Comfort was well-received by the local populations. For example, the vessel was in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, from 22-26 October. According to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense the medical staff attended between 500-750 per day, while a Southern Command press release stated that “Comfort has treated more than 4,000 patients, including nearly 2,500 medical patients, 1,100 optometry patients, 450 dental patients, and performed 81 surgeries.” An Ecuadorian ministry press release explained “The arrival of the vessel is part of the strengthening of defense relations between Ecuador and the USA.”
Comfort then traveled to Paita, in northern Peru, where it treated over 5,000 patients, according to the Peruvian government. The U.S. hospital ship also donated wheelchairs and medical supplies. The Peruvian government noted that this is the third time that Comfort has visited Peru, in 2011 it provided medical assistance to 7,352 patients, and in 2007, it aided 9,223 Peruvian citizens.

The vessel’s stops in Colombia and Honduras had similarly positive results. In Colombia, the U.S. hospital ship docked in Turbo (Antioquia) and then Riohacha (La Guajira), with the local government estimating that some 7,400 patients were treated by Comfort’s medical staff. As a final point, it is worth noting that the citizens of these nations were not the only ones to receive treatment aboard Comfort. Case in point, while in Colombia medical personnel also helped Venezuelan migrants who have settled in Riohacha as they flee the political and socio-economic crisis in their homeland.

Discussion 
Enduring Promise is an example of a medical diplomacy initiative that helps promote a positive image of the U.S. In this case, the people that were helped by Comfort, along with their families and other loved ones, will likely now have a more positive view of the U.S. and its military due to the free and professional medical services they received. An indigenous person from the Wayuu ethnic community in Colombia described Comfort’s visit as a “blessing from God” as it helped vulnerable communities, peasants, and Venezuelan migrants, according to Colombia’s daily El Nacional. Even more, governments also get a load taken off their shoulders, as Comfort provided services that local medical services could not offer, or were too financially costly for families to afford. For the U.S. and its partners, this was a win-win situation.

One important fact to mention is that Comfort visited Ecuador. A few years ago, when former President Rafael Correa was in power, this trip would have been unthinkable, as the former South American leader was known for his anti-U.S. sentiments. He famously expelled the U.S. military from its base in Manta, in 2009, and he was a close ally of the late-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Nevertheless, President Lenin Moreno has carried out a complete turnaround to Ecuador’s foreign policy by rapproaching the U.S. In recent months, the Ecuadorian Esmeraldas-class corvette BAE Los Ríos (CM 13) participated in the U.S.-sponsored UNITAS multinational exercise in Colombia, personnel from the U.S. Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School visited the South American country, and Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin has visited the headquarters of U.S. Southern Command. Comfort’s visit, thus, is the proverbial cherry on top of the cake of improving bilateral relations.

As for Honduras, the visit is likewise significant as a caravan of Central American migrants, mostly Hondurans, is attempting to enter the U.S. as they escape poverty and violence in their homeland. Comfort’s visit to the Central American state is an example of SOUTHCOM and the U.S. Navy providing humanitarian aid to Hondurans in need, irrespective of the rhetoric coming out of Washington lately. Hence, it is refreshing to read SOUTHCOM’s 25 October communique, which explains that “the embarked medical team will provide care on board and at land-based medical sites, helping to relieve pressure on national medical systems caused partly by an increase in cross-border migrants. The deployment reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with the Americas.”

China’s Peace Ark 
As a caveat to this analysis, it is necessary to mention China’s hospital ship, Peace Ark. In a previous CIMSEC commentary, “The Significance of U.S. and Chinese Hospital Ship Deployments to Latin America,” the author discussed how both Washington and Beijing utilize their hospital vessels as diplomatic tools in order to improve their image in countries that said ships visit during their humanitarian tours. As it turns out, both ships would be deployed simultaneously to the Western Hemisphere. While Comfort visited the aforementioned nations, Peace Ark visited Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Venezuela. Even more, on 15 November the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense announced that the vessel had docked in Guayaquil to provide medical assistance to as many as 3,200 patients.

While governments are free to decide which vessels from foreign powers can enter their ports, it is impossible to avoid the irony that the hospital vessels of two nations that continue to be at odds with each other, from trade wars to incidents in Asian waters, are back-to-back welcomed in the territory of third-party states. As a result, Ecuadorians living in the Esmeraldas and Guayaquil regions enjoyed free medical services from two rival powers, while Quito maintains good relations with both nations.

Final Thoughts 
Medical diplomacy is an effective way to improve bilateral ties between the U.S. and its Latin American allies. Comfort’s visit to four Latin American nations, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru will improve the U.S. image at the grassroot level, as the citizens of these nations that received free and professional medical service will know that, irrespective of the current rhetoric coming out of Washington, U.S. medical personnel are still there to help those in need.

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is a researcher who focuses on geopolitical, military and cyber security issues in the Western Hemisphere. Follow him on Twitter: @W_Alex_Sanchez.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.

Geopolitical Monitor: Kazakhstan’s AIFC: Off to a Promising Start?

"Kazakhstan's AIFC: Off to a Promising Start?
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
Geopololitical Monitor
Opinion
13 December, 2018
Originally Published: https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/kazakhstans-aifc-off-to-a-promising-start/


The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has taken the next step in its quest to become a Central Asian investment hub by opening the first session of the Astana International Exchange (AIX) in mid-November. Considering that the AIFC only officially commenced its operations in July, it is too early to predict whether it will be successful or not, but, for the time being, Astana can be pleased with the AIFC’s promising first steps.

The author of this report has previously discussed the AIFC for Geopolitical Monitor (“The Astana International Financial Centre: Kazakhstan’s Ambitious Step Forward”), hence we will solely focus on recent developments.
The first session of the AIX included the trading of shares for Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of uranium. “We have executed a successful IPO [initial public offering], proving the status of the world uranium industry leader, and have become the first company listed on the Astana International Exchange,” said Galymzhan Pirmatov, CEO of Kazatomprom National Company.

Unconditional trading in Kazatomprom’s global depositary receipts began on November 19, KazInform reported. Additionally, some 49 foreign and 16 Kazakh companies, as well as some 2,700 Kazakh citizens presented their shares on the stock exchange on opening day, according to other reports.
Another important development is that Goldman Sachs has acquired 108,480 ordinary shares. These represent a “4.1 per cent of the total issued share capital (post-money) of AIX while simultaneously entering into a 5 year put option with AIFC to protect Goldman Sachs against a decline in the value of the shares below the purchase price,” the AIFC explained.

In the near future, there are plans for the the AIX to trade shares of other state-run companies such as Kazakhtelecom, Air Astana, KazMunaiGas, among others. The obvious objective, other than to cement AIX as the country’s premier stock exchange, is to convince foreign investors that they too should utilize this new agency. Adding to the enticement is the fact that the AIFC’s International Arbitration Centre is based on English Common law.  Moreover, if the AIFC is trying to attract Western investment it helps to have a brand name like Goldman Sachs attached – not to mention NASDAQ and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Curiously,  coinciding with the AIX’s first trading session, a delegation from Slovakia, headed by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, visited the AIFC’s facilities, hinting that the Central European government may be interested in the new initiative.

Dr. Ariel Cohen, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, praised the AIFC at a 4 December conference in Washington DC titled “Future Calling: Infrastructure Development in Central Asia” for what it could mean for Kazakhstan. He explained that the AIFC “is a transition from a 20th century natural resources-based proposition to a 21st century investment and financial services added value proposition.”  Meanwhile, another panelist, Catullus Helmer, Co-Founder and Partner at Enovid LLP, argued that “the AIFC and the AIX have already been a success” if we regard these newborn initiatives not as the next London Stock Exchange, but rather as “a haven, bellwether, and a benchmark for the rule of law, institutions, and the business environment.”

Kazatomprom: Up for (Partial) Auction
As previously mentioned, Kazakh heavyweight Kazatomprom which, by the company’s own estimates is valued at between USD$3-4 billion, was the first company to be traded at AIX. Apart from producing uranium, the company also “manufactures and sells beryllium and tantalum products; produces, transfers, and sells electric and heat energy; produces and sells potable, technical, and distilled water; among other services, according to Bloomberg.  “Kazatomprom also traded at the London Stock Exchange, raising $451 million. 5.5 million shares were sold in Astana, including 3.93 million actual shares and 1.6 million of Global Depositary Receipts,” reported Forbes.

The selling of Kazatomprom shares is important, but should not be overestimated. As the Jamestown Foundation explains, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna “will remain the majority shareholder and will continue to exert effective control over company operations;” hence it comes as no surprise that the plan is to sell no more than 15 percent of shares to outside investors. Then again, as the article also notes, “if Kazatomprom becomes a public company, it will be only the second major uranium miner in the world, after Canada’s Cameco, to obtain such a status.”  The partial privatization of this company is a good example of Astana giving up (partial) control of its profitable state-run enterprises, beginning with the crown jewel,  Kazatomprom, in order to attrack a more global clientele.

Ambitious Goals
The AIFC’s raison d’être is ambitious: to become the country’s main financial hub and one of the leading financial centers of Asia in the shortest possible time, which will help the Central Asian state become one of the top 30 most developed nations by 2050. The Centre was launched this past January, though it only started operating in July; and in November the AIX opened.

The role of Goldman Sachs and the partial privatization of an important company like Kazatomprom are attractive first steps. Another factor that could also attract investors is the Central Asian state’s ranking in the “Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs” report by the World Bank. In the latest report, Kazakhstan ranks number 36 in the “Ease of Doing Business Ranking” section,  with Switzerland at 33, Japan at 34, Russia at 35 and Slovenia at 37, out of 190 states that were analyzed. The next Central Asian state is Uzbekistan at number 74.  Even more, the report notes that “thirteen economies [including Kazakhstan] passed legislation in 2016/17 that increased corporate transparency requirements,” in addition to strengthening minority investor protections by increasing shareholder rights and their role in major corporate decisions. Thus, Kazakhstan is in an expectant place and we will have to see if the AIFC manages to increase the country’s position further in the coming years.

Of course, the future of the AIFC is not free of challenges. One obvious issue is that the Kazakh market and capital alone are not big enough to remain constantly active, and attractive. At the Atlantic Council event, Dr. Cohen explained that the AIFC can succeed “provided it is not limited just to Kazakhstan.” Hence, AIFC’s priority is to present itself as the natural conduit though which investors can make business with other Central Asian nations.

This will be achieved if the AIFC’s agencies are successful. For example, if the International Arbitration Centre successfully manages a dispute between Western company “X” and Central Asian country “Y” in a manner which both sides regard as professional and whose outcome is regarded as acceptable, this will  increase the AIFC’s international pedigree. We will have to wait and see how the Arbitration Centre deals with cases once they start coming in, but at least the IAC seems to be well staffed, as it is chaired by Barbara Dohmann QC, a well-known UK commercial barrister. The Kazakhs have imported “high quality expertise” to the IAC, remarked Dr. Cohen at the Atlantic Council event.
There is also a foreign policy aspect to the AIFC’s success, as the Kazakh government will have to maintain cordial and friendly relations with the other Central Asian states (relations with Uzbekistan have steadily improved since the new president came to power) in order to maintain borders open in order to promote freedom of movement and trade.

The AIFC and Kazakhstan
If the AIFC works as expected, and greater investment and industries come from Europe, Japan, South Korea and the United States, this will also help diversify Kazakhstan’s economy. An October 2018 report by the Project on Prosperity and Development, part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, entitled “The Future of Global Stability The World of Work in Developing Countries Kazakhstan Case Study,” explains this situation well. “Kazakhstan was one of the fastest-growing economies in the world during the natural resources boom of the 1990s,” the report explains, adding that it “has shown great progress in formal job creation. Between 2003 and 2013, annual employment growth was 2.1 percent, compared to the total labor force growth of 1.7 percent. During this period, a total 1.5 million jobs were created.”

However, there is government-acknowledged over-reliance on natural resource extraction, namely oil and gas. The CSIS report argues that, “construction, mining, and agribusiness are among the sectors projected to be the most promising for economic growth in the next 10 to 15 years, but challenges to the labor market remain,” including a large informal job sector. If oriented correctly, the AIFC could bring companies and externally-backed projects that would help diversify the Kazakh economy: e.g. constructing roads to help the agricultural sector.

Conclusion
There is an understandable degree of international skepticism about the AIFC’s ambitious objectives. Plenty of projects around the world begin with great fanfare only to collapse. However, what the AIFC has achieved in its firsts months of operations is commendable, which should help convince the international financial community to look at the AIFC as viable conduit for investment in Kazakhstan, and potentially the rest of Central Asia.


Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an analyst who focuses on geopolitical, military, and cybersecurity issues. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com or any institutions with which the author is associated.

Providence: Tensions along the US-Mexico Border: Using “Lethal Force” against Migrants

"Tensions along the US-Mexico Border: Using 'Lethal Force' against Migrants"
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
Providence
4 December 2018
Originally published: https://providencemag.com/2018/12/tensions-us-mexico-border-lethal-force-migrants/

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” 1 John 3:17
 
On November 25, some 500 migrants, including women and children, attempted to cross the Mexico-US border near the Mexican city of Tijuana. They were repelled by US border patrol agents using tear gas. The Mexican government has declared that those involved in the incident will be deported.

This incident comes at the heels of the Trump administration’s controversial authorization of lethal force, if necessary, by US troops stationed on the border with Mexico. He has similarly increased his rhetoric when referring to the migrants, whom he has labeled as “criminals,” and characterized the caravan as an “invasion.” Such statements do no help defuse the tense situation at the border.

Migrants and Troops
At the time of this writing, reports from the border say that between five and nine thousand migrants from Central America, particularly Honduras, are in Tijuana, camping by the border and at a sports complex. The November 25 incident demonstrates that these people are not willing to wait long until their case is heard by US immigration authorities. (Certain media reports say some migrants are returning to their homeland.)

In response, President Donald Trump deployed over five thousand troops to the border—the mission was originally called Operation Faithful Patriot, but later the Department of Defense labeled it as simply border support. Additionally, military police officers from the port of entry in Texas have been deployed to support Border Patrol agents in the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry in San Diego.
According to CNN, the Pentagon has explained that “the $72 million price tag covers the cost of deploying the approximately 5,900 active duty troops until December 15 and will increase the longer the troops are deployed.” This is quite the price tag to deal with unarmed men, women, and children.

“Rocks as Rifles”
President Trump has shown no reservation regarding how the migrants should be treated. He declared:

Anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military, Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico, we will consider that a firearm… We’re not going to put up with that. They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I told them to consider it a rifle.

This statement was probably a reaction to a photo that has been circulating online which shows a bloody Mexican police officer; violent migrants allegedly injured him. That story has been exposed as a lie as the photo was actually taken in 2012.

Moreover, Newsweek has published a decision memorandum, dated November 20 and signed by President Trump, which states that the deployed military personnel to the border “may perform those military protective activities that are reasonably necessary to ensure the protection and safety of Federal personnel, including a show of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention, and cursory search” (click here for the entire document). The incident last month is an example of US security personnel taking non-lethal actions in response to an attempted stampede by the migrants to cross the border.

Discussion
The caravan coincided with the US midterm elections; hence, President Trump made it an electoral issue. The US president has characterized the caravan members as “young men, strong men,” many of whom are criminals, according to him. He once stated that there were individuals from the Middle East in the caravan—he would later acknowledge that there was no proof for this accusation.

To be fair, the US Department of Homeland Security reportedly has informants in the caravan, and DHS officials have worked with Mexican authorities to identify them and figure out if any of them have criminal pasts. Authorities should treat such individuals appropriately (including deportation), but President Trump’s stereotypes and lies are a major problem. Similarly, individuals interviewed by Fox News have also said that the migrants have diseases like smallpox, tuberculosis, and even leprosy. In other words, the men, women, and children of this caravan are evil-incarnated, and they are coming to “invade,” as President Trump tweeted on October 29, the US and spread violence and leprosy. (Did Jesus not treat a leper with kindness rather than hate?)

This type of inflammatory language is not helpful. Rather than engaging with the governments of Central America or the new administration in Mexico, or with the caravan leaders themselves, President Trump has focused on militarizing the border, vilifying the migrants, and threatening US allies—he has threatened to cut financial aid to the Central American nations where the migrants come from.

Final Thoughts
It is understandable that any nation should refrain from having an open-door migration policy, and should the situation turn more violent at the border, it is correct for military personnel to defend themselves. However, it is certainly not acceptable for any government to spread hate and lies while dealing with a defenseless migrant population.

—
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an analyst who focuses on geopolitical, military, and cybersecurity issues in the Western Hemisphere. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author is associated.