|
US Establishes Military Bases In Colombia, Honduran Crisis Continues
|
rwro-@yahoo.com
|
Nov 06, 2009 06:14 PST
|
http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1744/1/
Toward Freedom
November 5, 2009
US Establishes Military Bases in Colombia as Honduran Crisis Continues =
=20
Written by Benjamin Dangl =20
In a quiet ceremony behind closed doors in the Colombian Presidential Palac=
e, US Ambassador William Brownfield sat down with three Colombian ministers=
to sign a deal allowing for 1,400 US military and private contractors to o=
perate in seven expanded military bases in the country.=20
The date was October 30, just one day after an apparent solution had been r=
eached to allow ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to return to power.=
These two developments are central to the mixed messages the Obama adminis=
tration is sending to Latin America.=20
On June 28, Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup. He returned to the co=
untry on September 21 and has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy ever si=
nce. Though the recent negotiations appeared to offer somewhat of a solutio=
n to the crisis that has gripped the country, it is still unclear whether o=
r not the Honduran Congress and coup leaders will actually respect the agre=
ement, and allow Zelaya to return to power.=20
The US further complicated matters when Tom Shannon, the US Secretary of St=
ate for Western Hemisphere Affairs, recently told CNN that the US will offi=
cially recognize the results of the November 29 election whether or not Zel=
aya is in office. In response, Zelaya sent US Secretary of State Hillary Cl=
inton a letter asking for clarification on the US stance. Such conflicting =
signals have defined the US response to the situation in Honduras since the=
coup took place.=20
The US sent another troubling message to the region when it signed the mili=
tary bases agreement with Colombia. Most aspects of the deal remain unknown=
as the Colombian government has not responded to requests from various Lat=
in American presidents for more information and transparency. The leaders a=
re concerned that the expanded US military presence poses a regional securi=
ty threat and violates Latin American sovereignty.=20
One of the bases is to be expanded to allow for the use of C-17 planes. =E2=
=80=9CThe idea=E2=80=9D, the Associated Press reported, =E2=80=9Cis to make=
Colombia a regional hub for Pentagon operations... nearly half the contine=
nt can be covered by a C-17 [military transport] without refueling=E2=80=9D=
, which =E2=80=9Chelps achieve the regional engagement strategy=E2=80=9D.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose country neighbors Colombia, has bee=
n a major critic of the deal from the start. He has asked why C-17 planes, =
with "warfighting capability" and the capacity to carry 200 paratroopers, w=
ould be used at these bases. Chavez pointed out that the plane that kidnapp=
ed Zelaya from Honduras stopped at a US air force base in the country befor=
e heading to Costa Rica.
"The official signing of the agreement, which allows the United States to d=
eploy seven military bases in the heart of our America... threatens not onl=
y Venezuela, but all the peoples in the center and the south of our hemisph=
ere," Fidel Castro wrote in a recent column. "A country like Cuba is well a=
ware that after the United States imposes its military bases, it leaves onl=
y when it desires to do so.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=9CColombia decided to hand over its sovereignty to the United States=
... Colombia no longer governs its territory,=E2=80=9D President Chavez sai=
d on a Venezuelan TV program. =E2=80=9CColombia today is no longer a sovere=
ign country... it is a kind of colony.=E2=80=9D
The US-funded Plan Colombia in the so-called war on drugs in Colombia has b=
een characterized by terrible human rights violations - violations that are=
only likely to increase with this military escalation.=20
=E2=80=9CThe Colombian regime, which backs death squads and has the contine=
nt=E2=80=99s worst human rights record, has received US military support se=
cond in scale only to Israel,=E2=80=9D political commentator John Pilger po=
inted out.
While the crisis drags on in Honduras, relations between Washington and Lat=
in America have taken another turn for the worse. As George Withers of the =
Washington Office on Latin America told the Associated Press, "At a time wh=
en we should be pursuing every kind of diplomatic avenue to reduce tensions=
, this appears to be a military decision that may increase tension."=20
***
Benjamin Dangl is the editor of TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspectiv=
e on world events and the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and So=
cial Movements in Bolivia (AK Press).=20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/
=20
To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwro-@yahoo.com
or
stopnato--@yahoogroups.com
Daily digest option available.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=0A=0A=0A
|
|
 |
|
