https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated March 30, 2022
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM),
headquartered in Miami-Dade County, FL, was officially
established in 1963. Prior to that, U.S. military elements in
the Western hemisphere had been organized under the U.S.
Caribbean Defense Command. SOUTHCOM’s area of
responsibility (AOR) begins at the southern Mexican border
and contains the remaining elements of Central and South
America, adjacent Atlantic and Pacific waters, and the
Caribbean Sea, ultimately encompassing 31 countries and
16 dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. The
region represents about one-sixth of the landmass of the
world assigned to regional unified commands.
SOUTHCOM is led by U.S. Army General Laura
Richardson.
Figure 1. U.S. Southern Command
Source: Congressional Research Service.
SOUTHCOM and National Strategic Priorities
During the Cold War, SOUTHCOM undertook a variety of
missions intended to prevent the Soviet Union (USSR) from
gaining a strategic foothold in the Western hemisphere.
After the end of the Cold War, the command changed its
focus to containing and/or countering narcotics trafficking
and humanitarian assistance missions. Today,
SOUTHCOM states that the command seeks to advance
national strategic objectives in three primary ways:
Strengthening partnerships with other countries and
agencies in the region through activities that enhance
access and presence, such as (but not limited to)
building their respective security institutions and
capacities (including through advancing human rights),
integrated officer/enlisted leader development; and
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Countering threats by increasing cooperation and
information sharing with allies and partners to
understand and counter threats from transnational
criminal organizations (TCOs), violent extremist
organizations, and malign actors.
Building the SOUTHCOM team by prioritizing a
workforce that is trained, highly competent, and
educated in the history and cultures of the region; is fit
and disciplined; and takes into account quality of life
issues of the families of SOUTHCOM personnel.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is not the lead U.S.
government agency for many of the activities that fall under
this mission set. As a result, SOUTHCOM has designed its
posture to support, rather than lead, other agencies and
countries in the region. Security cooperation—a term
describing DOD engagements with other countries to
improve respective defense capabilities and capacities—
involves key programs used by SOUTHCOM to advance
U.S. objectives in the region.
The Evolving Geopolitical Context of the
Southern Hemisphere
The Biden Administration’s 2021 Interim National Security
Strategic Guidance (INSSG) notes that “our vital national
interests compel the deepest connection to the Indo-Pacific,
Europe, and the Western Hemisphere.” The document goes
on to argue,
Because the vital national interests of the United
States are inextricably bound to the fortunes of our
closest neighbors in the Americas, we will expand
our engagement and partnerships throughout the
Western Hemisphere – and especially with Canada
and Mexico – based on principles of mutual respect
and equality and a commitment to economic
prosperity, security, human rights, and dignity.
This includes working with the Congress to provide
Central America with $4 billion in assistance over
four years, and taking other steps to address the root
causes of human insecurity and irregular migration,
including poverty, criminal violence, and
corruption – problems made exponentially worse by
COVID-19 and the deep recession and debt crisis it
has wrought throughout Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Strategic Challenges?
SOUTHCOM maintains that the main threats with which it
must be prepared to contend include the Peoples Republic
of China, Russia, Transnational Criminal Organizations,
