Begin forwarded message:
> By Conn Hallinan > > Submitted to Portside > > It would be easy to make fun of President Bush's recent > fiasco at the 4th Summit of the Americas in Mar del > Plata, Argentina. His grand plan for a free trade zone > reaching from the Artic Circle to Terra del Fuego was > soundly rejected by nations fed up with the economic > and social chaos wrought by neo-liberalism. At a press > conference, South American journalists asked him rude > questions about Karl Rove. And the President ended the > whole debacle by uttering what may be the most > trenchant observation the man has ever made on Latin > America: 'Wow! Brazil is big!' > > But there is nothing amusing about an enormous U.S. > base less than 120 miles from the Bolivian border, or > the explosive growth of U.S. financed mercenary armies > that are doing everything from training the military in > Paraguay and Ecuador to calling in air attacks against > guerillas in Colombia. Indeed, it is feeling a little > like the run up to the '60s and '70s, when Washington- > sponsored military dictatorships dominated most of the > continent, and dark armies ruled the night. > > U.S. Special Forces began arriving this past summer at > Paraguay's Mariscasl Estigarriba air base, a sprawling > complex built in 1982 during the reign of dictator > Alfredo Strosserr. Argentinean journalists who got a > peek at the place say the airfield can handle B-52 > bombers and Galaxy C-5 cargo planes. It also has a huge > radar system, vast hangers, and can house up to 16,000 > troops. The air base is larger than the international > airport at the capital city, Asuncion. > > Some 500 special forces arrived July 1 for a three- > month counterterrorism training exercise code named > Operation Commando Force 6. > > Paraguayan denials that Mariscasl Estigarriba is now a > U.S. base have met with considerable skepticism by > Brazil and Argentina. There is a disturbing similarity > between U.S. denials about Mariscasl Estigarriba, and > similar disclaimers made by the Pentagon about Eloy > Alfaro airbase in Manta, Ecuador. The U.S. claimed the > Manta base was a 'dirt strip' used for weather > surveillance. When local journalists revealed its size, > however, the U.S. admitted the base harbored thousands > of mercenaries and hundreds of U.S. troops, and > Washington had signed a 10-year basing agreement with > Ecuador. > > The Eloy Alfaro base is used to rotate U.S. troops in > and out of Columbia, and to house an immense network of > private corporations who do most of the military's > dirty work in Columbia. According to the Miami Herald, > U.S. mercenaries armed with M-16s have gotten into fire > fights with guerrillas in southern Columbia, and > American civilians working for Air Scan International > of Florida called in air strikes that killed 19 > civilians and wounded 25 others in the town of Santo > Domingo. > > The base is crawling with U.S. civilians-many of them > retired military-working for Military Professional > Resources Inc., Virginia Electronics, DynCorp, Lockheed > Martin (the world's largest arms maker), Northrop > Grumman, TRW, and dozens of others. > > It was U.S. intelligence agents working out of Manta > who fingered Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia > leader Ricardo Palmera last year, and several leaders > of the U.S. supported coup against Haitian President > Bertram Aristide spent several months there before > launching the 2004 coup that exiled Aristide to South > Africa. > > 'Privatizing' war is not only the logical extension of > the Bush Administration's mania for contracting > everything out to the private sector; it also shields > the White House's activities from the U.S. Congress. > 'My complaint about the use of private contractors,' > says U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsy (D-Il), 'is their ability > to fly under the radar to avoid accountability.' > > The role that Manta is playing in the northern part of > the continent is what so worries countries in the > southern cone about Mariscasl Estigarriba. 'Once the > United States arrives,' Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize > laureate Adolfo Perez commented about the Paraguay > base, 'it takes a long time to leave.' > > The Bush Administration has made the 'Triple Frontier > Region' where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet into > the South American equivalent of Iraq's Sunni Triangle. > > According to William Pope, U.S. State Department > Counterterrorist Coordinator, the U.S. has evidence > that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed spent > several months in the area in 1995. The U.S. military > also says it seized documents in Afghanistan with > pictures of Paraguay and letters from Arabs living in > Cuidad del Este, a city of some 150,000 people in the > tri-border region. > > The Defense Department has not revealed what the > letters contained, and claims that the area is a hotbed > of Middle East terrorism have been widely debunked. The > U.S. State Department's analysis of the > region-'Patterns of Terrorism'-found no evidence for > the charge, and an International Monetary Fund (IMF) > study found the area awash with money smuggling, but > not terrorism. > > It is the base's proximity to Bolivia that causes the > most concern, particularly given the Bush > Administration's charges that Cuba and Venezuela are > stirring up trouble in that Andean nation. > > Bolivia has seen a series of political upheavals, > starting with a revolt against the privatization of > water supplies by the U.S. Bechtel Corporation and the > French utility giant, Suez de Lyonnaise des Eaux. The > water uprising was sparked off when Suez announced it > would charge between $335 and $445 to connect a private > home to the water supply. Bolivia's yearly per capita > gross domestic product is $915. > > The water revolt, which spread to IMF enforced taxes > and the privatization of gas and oil reserves, forced > three presidents to resign. The country is increasingly > polarized between its majority Indian population and an > elite minority that has dominated the nation for > hundreds of years. Six out of 10 people live below the > poverty line, a statistic that rises to nine in 10 in > rural areas. > > For the Bush Administration, however, Bolivia is all > about subversion, not poverty and powerlessness. > > When U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited > Paraguay this past August, he told reporters that, > 'There certainly is evidence that both Cuba and > Venezuela have been involved in the situation in > Bolivia in unhelpful ways.' > > A Rumsfeld aide told the press that Cuba was involved > in the unrest, a charge that even one of Bolivia's > ousted presidents, Carlos Mesa, denies > > A major focus of the unrest in Bolivia is who controls > its vast natural gas deposits, the second largest in > the Western Hemisphere. Under pressure from the U.S. > and the IMF, Bolivia sold off its oil and gas to Enron > and Shell in 1995 for $263.5 million, less than 1 > percent of what the deposits are worth. > > The Movement Toward Socialism's presidential candidate > Evo Morales, a Quechuan Indian and trade union leader > who is running first in the polls, wants to re- > nationalize the deposits. Polls indicate that 75 > percent of Bolivians agree with him. > > But the present political crisis over upcoming > elections Dec. 18, and disagreements on how to > redistribute seats in the legislature, has the U.S > muttering dark threats about 'failed states.' > > U.S. General Bantz J. Craddock, commander of Southern > Command, told the House Armed Services Committee: 'In > Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, distrust and loss of faith > in failed institutions fuel the emergence of anti-U.S., > anti-globalization, and anti-free trade demagogues.' > > Bolivia has been placed on the National Intelligence > Council's list of 25 countries where the U.S. will > consider intervening in case of 'instability.' > > This is scary talk for Latin American countries. > > Would the U.S, invade Bolivia? Given the present state > of its military, unlikely. > > Would the U.S. try to destabilize Bolivia's economy > while training people how to use military force to > insure Enron, Shell, British Gas, Total, Repsol, and > the U.S. continues to get Bolivian gas for pennies on > the dollar? Quite likely. > > And would the White House like to use such a coup as a > way to send a message to other countries? You bet. > President Bush may be clueless on geography, but he is > not bad at overthrowing governments and killing people. > > You bet. > > Will it be as easy as it was in the old days when the > CIA could bribe truckers to paralyze Chile and set the > stage for a coup? > > Nothing is easy in Latin America anymore. > > The U.S. can bluster about a trade war, but the playing > field is a little more level these days. The Marcosur > Group of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay > embraces 250 million people, generates $1 trillion in > goods, and is the third largest trade organization on > the planet. If the American market tightens, the > Chinese are more than willing to pick up the slack. > > A meeting last month of the Ibero-American heads of > state turned downright feisty. The assembled nations > demanded an end to the 'blockade' of Cuba. The word > 'blockade' is very different than the word 'embargo,' > the term that was always used in the past. A 'blockade' > is a violation of international law. > > The meeting also demanded that the U.S. extradite Luis > Posada to Venezuela for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban > airliner that killed 76 people. > > If the U.S. tries something in Bolivia (or Venezuela), > it will find that the old days when proxy armies and > economic destabilization could bring down governments > are gone, replaced by countries and people who no > longer curtsy to the colossus from the north. > _______________________________________________________ > > portside (the left side in nautical parlance) is a news, > discussion and debate service of the Committees of > Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It aims to > provide varied material of interest to people on the > left. > > For answers to frequently asked questions: > http://www.portside.org/faq > > To subscribe, unsubscribe or change settings: > http://lists.portside.org/mailman/listinfo/portside > > To submit material, paste into an email and send to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (postings are moderated) > > For assistance with your account: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To search the portside archive: > https://lists.mayfirst.org/search/swish.cgi?list_name=portside ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/vseplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
