Why is Trump shifting millions in military aid to South America?

The funding will reportedly subsidize purchases of American weapons by four governments on the continent The US has decided to redirect $52 million in foreign military financing to four countries in South America, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.The funds, which subsidize purchases of American military equipment, are being reallocated from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, the news agency said, citing a State Department notification to Congress.The shift comes as US President Donald Trump has placed greater emphasis on the Western Hemisphere under what he has called the ‘Donroe Doctrine’, his version of the 19th-century hegemonic Monroe Doctrine. The Trump administration has said it intends to strengthen US influence in the Americas while preventing rival powers from gaining strategic positions in the region.The State Department said the previous distribution of foreign military financing did “not align with the administration’s prioritization of” the Western Hemisphere. Spending the money in South America will help recipients “combat narcoterrorism in our backyard and help continue to secure the Panama Canal” and “prevent...