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REPORTS: CENTRAL AMERICA |
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U.S.
Imposes Military Agenda
US seeks to assert its political and
military doctrine in the region.
INFORPRESS
The new US security doctrine that has
emerged as a result of the Sept 11, 2001
attacks on the twin towers in New York
has advanced slowly but surely in
Central America, permeating the highest
levels of power.
Over the last several months, US
government representatives have
increased their influence in Central
America, making their views felt through
pronouncements and actions against
terrorism by heads of state of the
region.
Analysts said the US government has
boosted actions to increase its
influence in regional policies of
security and justice as part of its
agenda of imposing an economic and
political model that will allow the
United States to expand its domination
in the world power balance.
Initiatives by the region’s legislatures
approving a larger U.S. military
presence, accords to reduce and
eliminate arms and initiatives that
grant immunity to members of the US
military deployed in the region, provide
the clearest evidence of US military
influence in the region.
During the Special Summit on Regional
Security on Sept. 4, the presidents of
Costa Rica, Abel Pacheco; Guatemala,
Alfonso Portillo; El Salvador, Francisco
Flores, Nicaragua, Enrique Bolaños;
Panama, Mireya Moscoso; Honduras,
Ricardo Maduro and the prime minister of
Belize, Said Musa reiterated the
validity of the Framework Treaty of
Democratic Security in Central America
and asked the Commission of Central
American Security to move ahead with
execution of the Plan of Action against
Organized Crime through national and
regional initiatives.
In the meeting, the Nicaraguan
government proposed the Program of
Limitation and Control of Armaments of
Central America aimed at reaching a
reasonable balance of forces, which was
accepted as a working document. The
Commission of Central American Security
was charged with preparing a calendar of
implementation.
One of the authors of the project, Col.
Ramón Calderón, said that the proposal
foresees taking an inventory of the
region’s forces and means of defense and
public security; verification of this
data by government, military and police
officials and eventually by the
Organization of American States (OAS).
The officer warned that if a country
were to allege reasons of sovereignty or
secrecy, the accord would not work.
Bolaños, in his speech before the United
Nations General Assembly Sept. 24, said
his government would seek to cooperate
actively within a multilateral framework
to combat scourges like terrorism.
"For this reason, we are giving an
impetus to a new era in Central America,
a more united Central America, a model
of democratic security with an
innovative scheme to defeat traditional
challenges and modern threats," he said.
Regarding drug trafficking, he said that
"due to our privileged geographic
position, international organized crime
is seeking to extend itself and convert
out region into a route between the
nations that produce and the nations
that consume illegal substances. In
Nicaragua, we have detained its advance.
Nevertheless, it is vital to consolidate
the cooperation of all international
players in accordance with the criteria
of shared responsibility."
Julio Balconi, former minister of
defense of Guatemala and analyst on
security issues, said that the delayed
efforts to create a multinational
military force for the defense of the
isthmus and to homologate security
policies of the countries of the region
are being reactivated as a result of an
external agenda, referring to the
outlines set out in the new US security
doctrine.
"There has always been a relationship
between the armed forces of Central
America, but it mostly dealt with
preliminary talks to form a
multinational force for the defense of
Central America. It never became a
reality, however, because it would have
required a political decision by the
presidents. We were not talking only
about military operations but also a
multilateral force for aspects of
security and defense," he said. "Now, I
think there have been advances and
increased influence of the US agenda in
these issues."
Agreements like those signed recently
for the arrival of members of the US
military in Guatemala for training,
security and solidarity "are routine,
but they will be much more intense,
above all in the areas of fighting
drug-trafficking and terrorism," Balconi
said. "The US agenda changed and I
imagine that activities before aimed at
providing aid to communities will now be
more focused on security aspects."
Gustavo Castro, analyst at the Center of
Economic and Political Research of
Communitarian Action (CIEPAC), said that
US-backed efforts for the creation of a
Central American military force are
aimed at creating a regional structure
controlled by Washington, using the
argument that armies of the region are
incapable of preventing and controlling
terrorism.
He said that the US efforts are part of
a plan of "homogenization" of the
security apparatus of Latin America,
responding exclusively to its economic
and political interests and aimed
specifically at backing the proposal for
a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
Among the reasons behind this plan,
Castro mentioned the importance of the
control of oil deposits in Latin
America.
Castro said the growing US military
presence and the influence of its
security policies is "a key and
strategic part of President George W.
Bush’s economic plan, which includes
electricity inter-connection, exploiting
the biodiversity of Meso-American
Biological Corridor and developing
hydroelectric projects in Plan Puebla-Panama
(LP, July 29, 2002).
Castro said that with the pretext of an
external threat of terrorism, the United
States will look to reinforce its
control of the region to bolster
economic policies that could eventually
cause discontent and popular protests in
the region. The analyst said that the
free trade accords call for reduction of
import duties for the Central American
military industry.
In the document "Petromilitarización del
Continente y de la America de en medio"
(Militarizing via Oil of the Continent
and of Central America)," Castro said
the US strategy includes criminalizing
independent non-government
organizations, accusing them of being a
threat to democracy. Amnesty
International, Doctors without
Frontiers, Human Rights Watch, Global
Exchange, and Oxfam, among others, are
facing this threat.
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