-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.nonviolence.org/for/panama/34.htm <A HREF="http://www.nonviolence.org/for/panama/34.htm">Republicans Push Pentagon to Stay at Howard Air </A> ----- Number 27, July 1999 Panamá Update Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean 995 Market St. #801, San Francisco, CA 94103 Tel: (415) 495-6334, Fax: (415) 495-5628, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Republicans Push Pentagon to Stay at Howard Air Base Military Sets Up in Ecuador and Dutch Antilles by John Lindsay-Poland As U.S. troops gradually withdraw from Panama, the Pentagon is scrambling for other sites in the region to conduct the military operations carried out from the isthmus. In the wake of failed negotiations for a military "counter-drug center" on U.S. bases in Panama, the Defense Department appears not to have had a "Plan B". The U.S. Air Force signed short-term agreements with Ecuador and the Netherlands in April to use three airfields for anti-drug flights in the Caribbean -- the Dutch protectorates of Aruba and Curacao, and Manta, Ecuador. The airfields replace Howard Air Base in Panama, where operations ended on May 4 as part of implementing the Torrijos-Carter Canal Treaties. HANDOVER OF PANAMA BASE HINDERS ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 1999 Source: The Washington Post Page: A19 Author: Douglas Farah, Washington Post Foreign Service The turnover of a U.S. military base to Panama earlier this month has left a gaping hole in American counter-drug efforts in Central America and the Caribbean, forcing the Clinton administration to scramble for new facilities that can be used to track drug shipments from South America. All U.S. forces are scheduled to leave Panama, formerly headquarters for the U.S. Southern Command, by the end of the year under terms of the Panama Canal treaties. On May 1, Howard Air Force Base was turned over to Panama, depriving the United States of a base for 22 surveillance aircraft and causing a sharp drop in anti-drug coverage of the region. To maintain a presence in the area, the Clinton administration has hastily negotiated a short-term agreement with the Netherlands to station aircraft at the airports in the Dutch Caribbean protectorates of Aruba and Curacao. It negotiated a similar agreement with Ecuador to station airplanes in the Pacific coast city of Manta. Washington is seeking a third such agreement in Central America and, to that end, is currently negotiating with Costa Rica. All of the new airfields, however, will require substantial improvements -- including new maintenance facilities and housing -- that will cost more than $100 million, Pentagon officials said. U.S. aircraft flew about 2,000 surveillance missions out of Howard last year, gathering intelligence for the United States and for counter-drug forces in other countries in the region, officials said. Pentagon officials said that even under ideal circumstances it will take two to three years to regain the surveillance capability that existed in Panama. All the cocaine and most of the heroin used in the United States is produced in South America and moved north by airplane or ship through Central America and Mexico or through the Caribbean. In a May 20 letter to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, four Republican congressmen warned that the loss of Howard has presented the United States with "one of the worst disasters in our U.S. counterdrug history." "These counterdrug flights are essential for information sharing with other countries in the region, for eradication and narcotics interdiction," said the letter from representatives John L. Mica (Fla.); Benjamin A. Gilman (N.Y.); Mark Edward Souder (Ind.); and Robert L. Barr Jr. (Ga.). "Without these essential flights the department is creating a wide open door to drug traffickers and destroying the first line of defense against illegal narcotics traffickers." The letter said that "failed negotiations" with Panama and "the absence of adequate advance planning" had endangered the drug war. Barry R. McCaffrey, the administration's national drug policy director, said he was "worried" by the loss of Howard but blamed the delay in getting the new bases operational on then-Panamanian President Ernesto Perez Balladares, who, he said, had agreed privately to extend the U.S. presence in Panama, then backed out last September. "I'm very disappointed," McCaffrey said. "It has put us in a scramble." Ana Maria Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement policy, said at a congressional hearing May 4 that the Pentagon could not approach other countries about hosting U.S. surveillance aircraft until after the talks with Panama formally ended. This left very little lead time to put other agreements together, she said. The opening of the centers in Aruba and Curacao will eventually allow the United States to fly about 65 percent of the surveillance missions flown out of Howard last year, Pentagon officials said. That level will increase to 110 percent following the opening of the center at Manta and a third location in Central America, the officials said. The agreement with the Netherlands runs through September, and the agreement with Ecuador expires next May. But U.S. officials expressed confidence that the host countries would agree to long-term arrangements because each of the new locations would require only eight U.S. soldiers, although that number would fluctuate as air crews rotate through the bases on temporary assignments. "We think we have a good strategy," said one Pentagon official. "While the arrangement is different, it's a more productive way of engaging other countries." But Republican Congressmen and Southern Command Chief General Charles Wilhelm are calling for an agreement with Panamanian president-elect Mireya Moscoso to allow renewed U.S. military access to Howard Air Base. White House Latin America advisor Buddy MacKay reportedly raised the possibility with Moscoso of negotiating military access when he visited Panama two days after Moscoso's election on May 2. Moscoso, for her part, says she is willing to consider U.S. proposals to use Howard Air Base or Tocumen International Airport in Panama City as military "Forward Operating Locations" (FOLs) for drug war surveillance in the region. The U.S. Southern Command operated 2,000 flights a year from Howard, which had been the centerpiece of a military "counter-drug center" under negotiation between Panama and Washington until last September. Those talks broke down after Panama limited the U.S. lease to three years and ruled out military operations other than anti-drug missions. Washington is also negotiating with Costa Rica for use of an airfield in the coastal town of Liberia, while Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori reportedly refused to negotiate an access agreement for the flights. Costa Rica's Public Security Minister, Rafael Lizano, said the United States has not approached him directly, but said there would be no problem with aircraft equipped with radar and communications equipment landing in Costa Rica, as long as they are not armed. The Costa Rican constitution prohibits the landing of armed aircraft that belong to other nations without the explicit permission of the legislature. The FOLs will host F-16 fighter jets, refueling aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft, which will fly missions in the Caribbean and to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Up to 200 personnel will be assigned to each site, according to the Southern Command. The FOLs will be augmented from U.S. military bases at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Soto Cano, Honduras. The Colombian newspaper El Espectador cited a U.S. State Department official as saying that the new bases in Ecuador, Aruba and Curacao will be strategic points for close surveillance of the Colombian guerrillas and their incursions into Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ana Maria Salazar said that the three FOLs will allow the military to provide up to 85% of the coverage that it had from Howard. Southern Command chief General Charles Wilhelm, however, testified that the flights and radar installations spread throughout the region still only cover 15 percent of the area, 15 percent of the time. Since the access agreement with the Netherlands expires in September, Washington may still decide to take an aggressive approach with Moscoso, who assumes office on September 1. However, Panama's constitution requires any international agreement for installations on the banks of the canal to be ratified by a popular referendum at least 90 days after the agreement is signed, And since the Canal Treaties require transfer of the bases to Panama by December 31, a deal by that time is highly improbable. Wilhelm generated a furor in Panama when he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 22: "As you will appreciate, sir, we are very conscious of our responsibilities under the Neutrality Treaty. And we know that we have the obligation to intervene, whether cooperatively with the Panamanians or unilaterally, if the situation calls for it. So we are making contingency plans in that sense." Foreign Minister responded that "it is inadmissible that [the conflict in Colombia] be used as an excuse to give the impression that the canal is in danger, which is absolutely false. The U.S. military presence has never been for the protection of the canal nor to guard our borders, much less for Panama's security." Opposition in Panama to a military access agreement was also not long in coming. "Don't try to fool us with the argument that a rental for U.S. aircraft, weapons, equipment, hangars, pilots and soldiers is different from the 'Counter-drug Center'," Frente Panamá Soberana said of Moscoso's announcement. Abel Rodríguez, who chairs the legislature's canal affairs commission, said that the construction of a Multi-modal Transport Center on Howard would offer greater economic benefits to Panama than renting the airfield to the United States for anti-drug operations. Unwelcome in Region? The access agreement with Ecuador expires in April 2000, while the interim agreement with Holland for Aruba and Curacao runs out on October 1 of this year. The multiple locations are necessary, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Henry Shelton in an April 16 letter, because "the governments of the Netherlands, Ecuador, and Costa Rica will not permit positioning all [counter-drug] surveillance assets in any single location." Civilian leaders in Latin America, in other words, see the U.S. military bases as a liability that may increase the military's role and threaten to weaken already-tenuous civilian rule. The Southern Command may also be nervous about the status of troops moving from Panama to Puerto Rico in July and August, since a commission appointed by Puerto Rican governor Pedro Rossello recommended on June 25 that the Navy leave the municipal island of Vieques. About 350 Special Forces troops transferring to Puerto Rico plan to use Vieques for combat and explosives training. Analysts in both Holland and Ecuador criticized the agreements as ineffective and dangerous. "It is not in the interest of the Dutch to get involved in US policies," said Tom Blickman of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute. "We argue for a different Dutch foreign policy regarding the drug problem, based on the principles of 'harm reduction': conflict prevention, respect for human rights and alternatives for peasants who depend on drug cultivation to survive." In Ecuador, the former mayor of Manta, Alberto Cantos, opposed the agreement, saying, "an anti-drug base in Manta is a disrespect to national sovereignty and will not represent the development for the port that officials claim." Drug War Hawks Also Critical Republicans in the House of Representatives harshly criticized the Clinton administration for the failed negotiations with Panama and resulting departure from Howard, citing the $137 million that rehabilitating the airfields could cost for an uncertain period of use. The airfield at Manta, Ecuador especially requires an expensive overhaul, according to a report written by a Southern Command officer in May. "Problems plaguing Manta range from runways so dilapidated that they are unusable by military aircraft to lax safety standards and extremely limited supplies of electricity and water," according to Inside the Pentagon, which reviewed the report. Southern Command chief General Charles Wilhelm is reportedly pressuring the Navy to begin using the airfield immediately, but the report recommends "we suspend any DOD air activity from Manta until roughly Nov. '99." Estimates of the funds needed to upgrade the airfields vary. "But even a minimal level of investment guarantees a long-term U.S. presence," notes Coletta Youngers of the Washington Office on Latin America, "and will significantly build military-to-military ties in those locations." U.S. officials apparently did not think through how to replace Howard Air Base in Panama because they believed they could pull out an agreement with Panama. Drug czar General Barry McCaffery, who was the Pentagon's chief commander for the region until 1996, agreed with Republican critics that the administration had not been "aggressive enough" in military base talks with Panama. "I am frankly concerned that the FARC [a Colombian guerrilla army] will move further north than they previously have and create a more unstable situation in Panama," lamented conservative Rep. John Micah at a May 4 hearing. He did not note that the border region where FARC guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary forces have recently entered is remote and unconnected by roads to the rest of Panama. Representative Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) told a Panamanian journalist that when he authored a bill last October to give aid and trade benefits to Panama in exchange for continued U.S. military bases, he was awaiting expressions of interest by Panamanian officials before pushing the project in Congress. "I am hopeful that those expressions of interest will get to me soon," Gilman said. Vice-president-elect Arturo Vallarino met with advisors to Gilman during a visit to Washington in May. However, the same Congressmen who criticize the administration's expenses on FOLs are supporting vastly increased military spending for the drug war. The Drug Free Century Act, introduced by Senator Michael DeWine of Ohio, includes authorization for $300 million for the construction of a "Forward Military Base" in Latin America for counter-drug operations. The legislation would also authorize $100 million for a new radar system to be built in the region, $200 million for unspecified drug war activities, and an additional $147 million in equipment and operational support to the militaries of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The bill (S. 5) has 14 Republican co-sponsors. The bulk of Army troops based in Panama are already set to move to Puerto Rico in July and August, which will also host the Special Operations Command South, a command of 350 troops who train Latin American militaries. The Jungle Combat Training Center, based at Fort Sherman on Panama's Caribbean coast, formally closed on April 1. Sources: El Panamá América 6/4; 6/6; 6/14; 6/28/99; La Prensa 6/23; 6/27/99; Diario Hoy (Ecuador) 5/7/99; Expreso (Lima), 6/26/99; House Committee on Government Reform hearing, 5/4/99; Inside the Pentagon 4/22; 5/27; 6/10/99; Gen. Charles Wilhelm, testimony, Senate Armed Services Committee, 3/4/99; Frente Panamá Soberana statement 6/21/99; El Espectador (Colombia) 6/4/99. [Panama Update Homepage] [Fellowship of Reconciliation Homepage] Fellowship of Reconciliation Panama Campaign Produced by the Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean 995 Market St. #801, San Francisco, CA 94103 Tel: (415) 495-6334, Fax: (415) 495-5628, E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Maintained by The Nonviolence Web:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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