COLOMBIA: CLINTON'S LIES MET BY WORLDWIDE PROTEST
By Andy McInerney
When U.S. President Bill Clinton traveled to Colombia on Aug. 30, 2000, one sentence stood out from all his photo-ops and his phony anti-drug demagogy.
"This is not Vietnam," he said. "Neither is it Yankee imperialism."
But Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels notwithstanding, a lie repeated enough times does not make the truth. In fact, the only ones who seemed to believe his lie of benevolent interventionism were the U.S. lackeys in Colombia's political and military elite.
Clinton was in the tourist center of Cartegena de Indias to deliver $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Colombia's tottering ruling classes. The aid is part of the $7.5 billion "Plan Colombia," a program based on military aid combined with various pledges of social services to win the hearts and minds of Colombians.
His denials did not travel well in Latin America.
"It would be highly dangerous if the operation leads to a military escalation," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Aug. 31. "That could lead to a Vietnamization of the entire Amazon region."
Chavez's fear was not isolated. "We do not want to become the next Thailand," said the chair of Panama's Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly, Marco Ameglio.
Thailand served as a massive U.S. air base and springboard for covert operations during the war against Vietnam.
Despite diplomatic arm twisting by Clinton and the U.S. government, a meeting of the 12 presidents of South American countries refused to endorse Plan Colombia. In particular, they would not go along with Clinton's efforts to portray Colombia's insurgencies as part of the drug trafficking problem.
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos told the New York Times on Sept. 2 that the presidents supported Colombian President Andres Pastrana's talks with the insurgencies. "That is distinct from the problem of drug trafficking," he affirmed.
PARALLELS WITH VIETNAM
The parallels between the increasing U.S. military escalation in Colombia and the buildup to the U.S. war in Vietnam are stunning. Colombia is now the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the world. As part of Plan Colombia, 500 U.S. military troops will be stationed in Colombia as "advisers." Military helicopters are already on the way and have been cleared for combat against Colombia's revolutionary movements. Biological and chemical warfare-- reminiscent of Agent Orange--are in the works for Colombia's countryside.
On Aug. 30, the Pentagon announced that Gen. Keith Huber will be stationed in Colombia to "oversee" the military aid. Huber will be the only U.S. general posted in Central or South America, according to the Associated Press.
Even Clinton's highly staged visit to Cartagena had an air of unreality. Behind the barrage of baby-kissing and picturesque poses, over 5,000 Colombian troops and close to 500 U.S. military and police agents patrolled the streets of the city. Clinton's speeches essentially took place under martial law.
Despite the massive show of force, students and trade unionists burned U.S. flags in the streets of Cartegena. Cleaning crews worked overtime to remove "Clinton go home" and "Yankee out" graffiti.
Thousands more turned out in mass demonstrations against Clinton's visit in Bogota, Medellin, and Cali. Students from the University of Antioquia clashed with riot police throughout the day.
The country's two main insurgencies, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), both issued statements declaring Clinton a "persona non grata" in Colombia. The ELN staged attacks on oil pipelines in northern Colombia to coincide with the visit.
Meanwhile the FARC-EP launched a massive offensive across the country. Among the losses for the government: a Vietnam- era AC-47 fighter-bomber that went down in heavy fighting near a key communications center at Mount Montezuma, 155 miles west of the capital, on Sept. 2.
A SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT ARISES
Clinton's visit proved to be a lightning rod for protest from around the world. In the United States, the International Action Center joined with other organizations, coordinating actions in 12 cities. Two hundred people turned out in New York City and 150 in San Francisco.
Other actions took place in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Providence, R.I., San Diego, San Francisco and West Palm Beach, Fla. The local chapter of the Colombia Support Network held an action in Helena, Mont. The following day, the Colombia Solidarity Committee in Chicago demonstrated in front of the Colombian Consulate.
"These demonstrations are the first step toward building a national anti-war movement against U.S. intervention in Colombia," said IAC leader Teresa Gutierrez.
Actions also took place in Vienna, Austria; Stockholm, Sweden; Brussels, Belgium; Beirut, Lebanon; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Toronto. Some 300 people in Rome took the street in front of the U.S. Embassy and held a sit-in.
This is the reason that Clinton felt forced to repeat again and again that Colombia would not be "another Vietnam." The U.S. government knows well that the carnage it unleashed against the Vietnamese people was eventually halted by massive solidarity--in the United States and around the world--against U.S. imperialism.
Posted: September, 2000
