Eric Farnsworth on CGTN America: Military Presence in Latin America Governments

Eric Farnsworth, vice president of AS/COA, spoke to Anand Naido on CGTN America's "The Heat" about military in Latin American governments.

"The military does have a credibility that the elected leaders really don’t have," Farnsworth said. "The elected leaders have not been able to deliver on the expectations that many of their people have in terms of economic growth, in terms of quality of life, in terms of security and safety in the streets."

Farnsworth said that when uniformed officials stand behind presidents of any Latin American country, it could bring to mind the region's history from the 1960s and 1970s.  "It does seem that some of those military officials were brought in by the leaders themselves to show that the leaders remain in control of their own governments, of their own streets," he said. "It does not, in my view, indicate a desire or even necessarily a willingness of some of these militaries to actually step in and take power."