The Latin American social democratic model, which places the fight against poverty and exclusion at the centre of its policies, is perceived as a threat by the neo-liberal economic and political hegemony, and the emergence of left wing governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Cuba, and of left-leaning governments in Brazil and Argentina, has greatly alarmed the US. In response, the US has progressively militarised the region, and in addition to its many bases in neighbouring countries, has recently signed a ‘Defence Cooperation Agreement’ with the right wing government of Colombia establishing seven bases within its borders. The US Fourth Fleet has also been reactivated, and patrols the surrounding seas. Francisco Dominguez, Head of the Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies at Middlesex University, has broadcast and published extensively on the region, and will discuss this alarming development and its implications.