Laura Richardson

U.S. Army General

Commander; U.S. Southern Command

Overview

Laura J. Richardson is a four-star U.S. Army General who served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) from 2021 to 2024; responsible for military operations across Central America; South America; and the Caribbean. She is the first woman to lead SOUTHCOM and one of the highest-ranking women in U.S. military history. Richardson has been a prominent voice on Chinese influence in Latin America; warning Congress repeatedly that China has expanded infrastructure; technology; and economic projects across the region; including port facilities; 5G networks; space tracking stations; and Belt and Road Initiative agreements with over 20 countries in the hemisphere. She has advocated for increased U.S. military engagement and investment in the region to counter Chinese and Russian influence. Critics from anti-interventionist perspectives argue that SOUTHCOM's historical role in Latin America includes support for coups; death squads; and authoritarian regimes during the Cold War; and that framing Chinese economic investment as a military threat risks militarizing economic competition. The School of the Americas (now WHINSEC) at Fort Benning trained Latin American military officers; some of whom committed human rights abuses. Richardson's SOUTHCOM focus on counter-narcotics operations also intersects with debates about the War on Drugs' effectiveness and its impact on Latin American civilian populations.

Key Affiliations

U.S. Southern Command

Commander (2021-2024)

agency

U.S. Army

Four-Star General

agency

Controversies & Concerns

SOUTHCOM has a deeply controversial history in Latin America; including support for military coups in Guatemala (1954); Chile (1973); and other nations during the Cold War that resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths

The School of the Americas (now WHINSEC); associated with SOUTHCOM operations; trained Latin American military officers who committed documented human rights abuses; including torture; disappearances; and massacres

Richardson's framing of Chinese economic investment in Latin America as primarily a military/security threat has been criticized for militarizing economic competition and potentially pushing nations away from U.S. partnership

Counter-narcotics operations under SOUTHCOM jurisdiction intersect with the broader War on Drugs; which has been criticized for producing more violence; displacement; and institutional corruption than reducing drug flows