http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/817/42020
Venezuela, Colombia and the threat of war in Latin America
Kiraz Janicke, Caracas
7 November 2009
*The possibility of an imperialist war in the Americas came a step closer on
October 30, when Colombia and the United States finalised a 10-year accord.
The agreement allows the US to hugely expand its military presence in the
Latin American nation.*
It comes as the US seeks to regain its dominance over Latin America, which
has declined over the past decade in the context of a continent-wide
rebellion against neoliberalism — spearheaded by the Bolivarian revolution
in Venezuela.
To regain control of its “backyard”, the US has resorted to more
interventionist measures. This is reflected by the recent military coup in
Honduras, destabilisation of progressive governments in Bolivia, Venezuela,
Ecuador and Paraguay and a massive military build-up in the region.
The US has also built new military bases in Panama and has reactivated of
its Fourth Fleet to patrol Latin American waters.
Over the past decade, the Venezuelan government, which is the fifth largest
oil exporter in the world, has sharply increased social spending.
This had led to some significant achievements, such as the halving of
poverty levels, the eradication of illiteracy, and the provision of free
universal education and healthcare for the poor.
In 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared the revolution to be
socialist in its aims. Since then, the government has sought to promote
grassroots democracy and participation, through the creation of institutions
such as urban land committees, health committees, grassroots assemblies,
communes, workers’ councils and communal councils.
However, these pro-poor policies have bought the Chavez government into
conflict with powerful economic interests in Venezuela and the US.
The new US-Colombia military deal poses a direct threat to this radical
process of social change.
Tensions between Venezuela and the US-aligned government of Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe have risen because of the military agreement.
With the finalisation of the accord, Chavez declared that Colombia had
handed over its sovereignty to the US. “Colombia today is no longer a
sovereign country ... it is a kind of colony.”
Under the deal, the US military has full access to two air bases, two naval
bases, three army bases and all international civilian airports across the
country. This is in addition to existing US use of two other military bases
in Colombia.
The deal also grants US personnel full diplomatic immunity from prosecution
for any human rights abuses or other crimes committed on Colombian soil.
US officials claim publicly that only 800 personnel will operate in
Colombia, but the deal places no limits on the number of military personnel
that can be deployed.
The US has repeatedly denied that Colombia will be used as a launch pad for
military interventions in other South American countries.
However, as James Suggett said in a November 4 Venezuelanalysis.com article,
the US military’s financial documents tell a different story.
“The Pentagon budget for the year 2010 says the Department of Defense seeks
‘an array of access arrangements for contingency operations, logistics, and
training in Central/South America’”, Suggett said. It “cites a $46 million
investment in the ‘development’ of Colombia’s Palanquero air base as a key
part of this”.
The 2010 fiscal year budget of the US Air Force Military Construction
Program, said the Palanquero base “provides a unique opportunity for full
spectrum operations … where security and stability is under constant threat
from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, *anti-US governments*, [my
emphasis] endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters”.
Colombian paramilitaries operating illegally in Venezuela’s oil-rich border
regions, together with the right-wing opposition in Venezuela, are the
advance guard of imperialist plans to defeat the Bolivarian revolution.
Tensions flared in recent weeks when the bodies of nine Colombians, believed
to have been executed by an illegal armed group, were found dumped in the
border state of Tachira in October. The Venezuelan government said the group
was part of a “paramilitary infiltration plan.”
In addition, Venezuela announced it had captured three Colombians inside
Venezuela accused of spying for Colombia’s intelligence service.
On November 2, armed gunmen shot two Venezuelan National Guard members dead
at a border checkpoint. In response, the Venezuelan army has begun massive
security sweeps of the border region.
Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper, who has criticised the bases
deal, said in a recent interview “we are in a pre-war situation … the
situation could harden and reach extremes.”
An armed conflict is a possibility. However, the current tactic of the US is
to destabilise the Venezuelan revolution in the hope that it will collapse.
A war would also be dangerous for
