The Afghanistanisation of Colombia.doc

The = Afghanistanisation of=20 Colombia?

By Mike James

Right across = the South=20 American Continent concerns are being openly expressed at the draft = agreement=20 signed by the US and Colombian governments last week in Washington to = permit=20 access of US military personnel, contractors and military equipment to = at least=20 7 Colombian Military bases scattered right across the Andean = country.

Brazilian = President Lula da=20 Silva says that the idea of US bases in Colombia =E2=80=9Cdoes not = please him=E2=80=9D. Chilean=20 President Michelle Bachelet has also expressed serious concern over the = plans.=20 The group of South American countries UNASUR which include Guyana and = Suriname=20 called an urgent meeting of heads of state in Argentina next week = (August 28) to=20 discuss the issue.

The = Washington text has not=20 been published, and Colombian legislators including close supporters of=20 President Uribe have complained bitterly that the issue of a widening US = military presence in Colombia has not been addressed at all in the = Colombian=20 Congress which must endorse deployment of foreign troops on Colombian=20 soil.

The Obama = Administration=20 and the Colombian government, faced with almost universal continental = criticism=20 of the further foreign militarization of the one country in the = Continent=20 currently locked in a guerrilla war, have recently gone on a = belated=20 public relations offensive to explain the good intentions and limited = scope of=20 the agreement.

President = Uribe explained=20 that =E2=80=9CSecuring agreements with countries like the United States, = in order for=20 them to help us in the battle against terrorism and drug trafficking, is = the=20 best thing for this country."

President Obama in a = recent=20 statement said that "We have had a security agreement with = Colombia=20 for many years now. We have updated that agreement. We have no intent in = establishing a U.S. military base in Colombia."

U.S. = Ambassador to=20 Colombia William Brownfield stressed last week the Colombian = government=20 would authorise "each and every mission - 100 percent," and that as Plan = Colombia stipulates, "each mission will include a representative of the=20 Colombian government =E2=80=93 the police or armed forces =E2=80=93 = aboard the planes, and the=20 missions will have specific, explicit authorisation from the Colombian=20 government." Both Governments repeated that under the agreement no = more=20 that 600 US Military and 800 US contractors would be based in Colombia = at any=20 given time.

The = assurances have not=20 removed concerns. For example, Time Magazine, one of the more = conservative US=20 publications has not been convinced. It notes in an article this week, = that the=20 plan to move US personnel to Colombia comes after neighbouring Ecuador = refused=20 the renew a 10 year lease expiring next year that allowed US drug = interdiction=20 aircraft to use the Ecuadorean Military base at Manta for its = operations. But it=20 warned:

MISSION=20 CREEP

=E2=80=9COne of the biggest=20 concerns is the issue of mission creep. In Ecuador, U.S. flights = were=20 exclusively counternarcotics operations. But Colombian Foreign Minister = Jaime=20 Bermudez says that under the new covenant, targets would include = terrorists =E2=80=94 by=20 which he meant Colombian guerrillas who kidnap civilians and run drugs = to fund=20 their war.=E2=80=9D And Time quoted Adam Isacson of the Centre for = International Policy=20 in Washington "Planes and a slightly bigger U.S. footprint will mean far = more=20 intelligence-gathering missions over Colombia than ever before. That may = bring a=20 notable increase in intelligence gathered about guerrilla locations and=20 movements."

The term = =E2=80=9CMission Creep=E2=80=9D=20 was coined by the US media to describe a disastrous increase in US = military=20 presence on the ground in Somalia in 1993 that was followed by the = =E2=80=9CBlack Hawk=20 Down=E2=80=9D incident in which the bodies of crew from a downed = US helicopter=20 were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by Somalia war = lords. The=20 concept has also been applied to the gradual increase of US troops on = the ground=20 in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and more recently to Iraq and Afghanistan = where=20 US troops increasingly fight and lead other people=E2=80=99s wars with = disastrous=20 consequences for local populations and eventually in US military death=20 toll.

Both US and = Colombian=20 government now admit that a major role for US troops at the 7 Colombian = Bases=20 will be participate in the Colombian Front in the =E2=80=9CWar = against Terrorism=E2=80=9D=20 i.e. the guerrilla war with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of = Colombia)=20 that has been going on since 1962. However, that guerrilla group, which = at one=20 time controlled nearly 1/3 of Colombian rural areas, has been = considerably=20 weakened in recent years.

Their = fundamental=20 justification for armed conflict has been that fundamental change in = favour of=20 the poor can never come in Latin America though a ballot box system = manipulated=20 by fraud and outright repression. But a recent string of electoral = victories=20 across the region by parties committed to slashing the historical = massive gap=20 between rich and poor has exposed the armed struggle option as having no = validity or relevance.

No one has = put it as=20 clearly and authoritatively as, of all people, Venezuelan=E2=80=99s = President Hugo=20 Chavez himself. He has called on the FARC to end their 40 year old armed = struggle and release all the 750+ hostages they currently hold. In one = of his=20 weekly radio programmes broadcast live in Venezuela and Colombia last = year, he=20 declared =E2=80=9CThe guerrilla war is history. In this age in Latin = America, an armed=20 guerrilla movement is out of place." With respect to the hostages he = called on=20 the FARC leadership to "Let all these people go. There are old folk, = women, sick=20 people, soldiers who have been prisoners in the mountain for 10 years. = President=20 Chavez also urged that ending the rebellion could lead to a peace = process=20 between the rebels and the Colombian government.

At the time = Colombian=20 government Interior minister Carlos Holguin welcomed the statement = saying=20 that it was surprising, coming from President Chavez who earlier = had=20 defended the rebels, "But it's great, and I hope the FARC heeds him."=20

Very little = publicity=20 internationally was given to President Chavez=E2=80=99 call and less to = international=20 efforts to encourage and mediate a complete end to the guerrilla war. = The=20 priority for external assistance for Colombia should be directed to = support for=20 a permanent cease fire in the country and a peaceful end to the = guerrilla war,=20 and to encouragement to Presidents Chavez and Uribe to work together for = that=20 end.

In a region = of the world=20 that has the greatest extremes between rich and poor, Colombia has the = second=20 highest gap (after Brazil), 35% of the population live in poverty, 17%, = an=20 astonishing 9.5 million people are homeless (ECLAC data). 5 financial = groups=20 control 90% of the country=E2=80=99s assets and 5% of the population own = 90% of all=20 property. A second majority priority for Colombia, as for so many = countries in=20 the region, is to urgently redistribute wealth so that the poor have a = chance=20 for a decent life.

Instead, the = preferred=20 =E2=80=9Csolution=E2=80=9D seems to be an increased US military presence = in Colombia and=20 involvement in the war, which like in so many places like Afghanistan = today,=20 could very likely promote increased guerrilla activity directly against = =E2=80=9Cforeign=20 forces of occupation=E2=80=9D and further increase in Mission Creep in a = region where=20 the very last solution needed to the urgent problems of development and=20 reduction of production, consumption and exportation of drugs is a heavy = landed=20 military option.

Already = Colombia is the=20 third highest recipient of US military assistance, after Israel and = Egypt. The=20 Time Magazine article also reports that the Obama Administration's = 2010=20 defence budget request includes $46 million for upgrading one of the = Colombian=20 installations that the Americans would use, a base north of Bogot=C3=A1 = known as=20 Palanquero.

But there has = got to be an=20 alternative to the Afghanistan model for peace and development in = Colombia and=20 so many other countries in poverty and conflict. Pope Benedict XVI puts = it this=20 way in his recently published Social Encyclical, Truth in Love: =

=E2=80=9CLife in many poor=20 countries is still extremely insecure as a consequence of food = shortages, and=20 the situation could become worse: hunger still reaps enormous = numbers of=20 victims among those who, like Lazarus, are not permitted to take their = place at=20 the rich man's table, contrary to the hopes expressed by Paul=20 VI.⁶⁴ Feed the hungry (cf. Mt 25: = 35, 37,=20 42) is an ethical imperative for the universal Church, as she responds = to the=20 teachings of her Founder, the Lord Jesus, concerning solidarity and the = sharing=20 of goods. Moreover, the elimination of world hunger has also, in the = global era,=20 become a requirement for safeguarding the peace and stability of the=20 planet.=E2=80=9D (Art 27)