----- Original Message ----- From: kloMcKinsey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 1:59 PM Subject: Re: MLL: Colombian revolutionaries vow to confront aggression Pakito Arriaran wrote: > > > ------------------------- > > Via Workers World News Service > > Reprinted from the July 6, 2000 > > issue of Workers World newspaper > > ------------------------- > > > > AFTER U.S SENATE VOTE: > > COLOMBIAN REVOLUTIONARIES VOW TO > > CONFRONT AGGRESSION > > > > By Andy McInerney > > > > The U.S. Senate took a giant step toward all-out war in > > Colombia on June 21. > > > > The Senate voted 94 to five for a billion-dollar package > > of military aid for the Colombian government. The package > > is part of a much bigger $7.5 billion "Plan Colombia" that > > is being orchestrated by the U.S. government. > > > > The reaction from Colombia was swift and defiant. "If the > > people of Colombia are threatened, we will confront the > > aggression," warned Simon Trinidad, spokesperson for the > > Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC- > > EP). > > > > "The Plan Colombia will raise more Manuel Marulandas," > > Trinidad said. Manuel Marulanda, popularly known as > > "Tirofijo"--Sureshot--is the legendary leader of the FARC- > > EP. > > > > The Colombian Communist Party issued a June 23 statement > > opposing the aid. "The approval of the Plan Colombia by the > > United States Congress shows that a new chapter of military > > intervention in Colombia is unfolding," the CCP's Executive > > Committee wrote. The party called for a national > > mobilization against the Plan Colombia. > > > > Before the Senate vote, 60 Colombian labor, human-rights > > and community groups signed a declaration to the > > international community opposing the Plan Colombia. "We > > reject the Plan Colombia because it uses an authoritarian > > concept of national security exclusively based on a > > strategy against narcotics," the statement explained. > > > > "It will lead to the escalation of the social and armed > > conflict. It fails to provide real solutions to drug > > trafficking. It attacks the Indigenous populations by > > destroying their culture and way of life." > > > > U.S. war package > > > > The $932 million approved by the Senate is primarily > > designed to bolster the Colombian armed forces. The package > > now needs to be reconciled with the $1.7 billion package > > approved by the House of Representatives. > > > > The final package--attached to a bigger appropriations > > package whose passage is all but assured--is expected to > > total at least $1.3 billion. > > > > The centerpiece is an armada of 60 combat helicopters. The > > House package includes 30 Huey II attack helicopters and 30 > > advanced Blackhawk helicopters; the Senate package provides > > 60 Hueys. > > > > The package also provides funds for training three elite > > counter-insurgency battalions, expanding the number of > > Special Forces "advisers" beyond the 200-300 that the > > Pentagon admits are already there. These battalions are > > supposed to lead a "push into the south," referring to the > > FARC-EP's stronghold. > > > > The Plan Colombia is marketed in the United States as part > > of the "war on drugs." But any analysis of the aid package > > and the current situation in Colombia reveals that this is > > for public consumption only. > > > > The package is actually aimed at Colombia's powerful > > insurgencies, the FARC-EP and the National Liberation Army > > (ELN). This is the key observation in the light of which all other events should be viewed. The "war on drugs" in Columbia is nothing more than a charade, a moralistic cover, to mask the true intention of the American government which is to deprive the liberation fighters of the primary source of their funding. To fight a war large sums of money are mandatory, absolutely necessary, and the major difference between the situation in Columbia and that which occurred in Vietnam is that in the latter instance the Soviet Union provided the basic wherewithal while in Columbia a crop is the source. Don't be so childish as to be beguiled by American propaganda. The United States has one over-arching, supreme goal in Columbia and that is to destroy the FARC-EP as a significant political force and especially eliminate any control it may exercise over various regions. That is unmistakable purpose of the recent Congressional appropriations. For the Cause, Klo
