This is a good form of military intervention under the circumstances:
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the outgoing commander of U.S. Southern Command on Monday praised the recent decision to send a U.S. Navy hospital ship to aid Venezuelan refugees, warning that moves by China and Russia in the hemisphere should not be trusted.
"There is nothing more indicative of U.S. commitment to regional stability and bolstering of people-to-people ties than the USNS Comfort's mission to aid Venezuelan refugees fleeing their crisis-racked nation," Mattis said at the Southern Command ceremony.
It also pushes back against Chinese and Russian influence.
But with only two hospital ships, Comfort won't be there long.
And given the many things that South American countries could use to cope with Venezuela, I think that a modularized auxiliary cruiser based on a container ship that I described in "The AFRICOM Queen" (May-June 2016 Military Review) could be fitted out by SOUTHCOM for a long cruise in the region.
She would have hospital, Coast Guard, special forces, aerial, law enforcement, DEA, judicial, State Department, and civilian aid group elements that would provide a whole-of-government/NGO "mall" for local governments to cope with Venezuela.
Health is a good start but medical care is not the only problem down there.
