FACT SHEET-- COLOMBIA: THE PENTAGON’S NEW TARGET IN LATIN AMERICA
With little fanfare, Colombia has become the third largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the world—behind only Israel and Egypt. U.S. Special Forces troops are already on the ground there, involved in combat with popular insurgencies. Yet Colombia is rarely mentioned in any of the major media in the United States. What’s going on?
The country
Colombia is the northern-most country of South America, with ports on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is rich in natural resources, with an abundance of oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, and emeralds. Its agricultural riches include coffee and flowers, and there are vast forest and river resources.
Approximately 30 percent of Colombia’s 40 million people are peasants. This includes several Indigenous communities with their own languages and customs.
Colombia is facing the worst depression since the 1930s. Unemployment is running at an official rate of 20 percent, with some areas suffering 50 percent unemployment. A majority of the country lives below the poverty level. The Colombian peso has lost over half its value against the dollar since 1998. These problems are compounded by the Colombian government’s pro-International Monetary Fund neoliberal economic policies of budget austerity and privatizations.
The main players
The government: Colombia’s government has been dominated by two traditional parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals. These two parties have ruled essentially uninterruptedly for the past 150 years. The current president, Andres Pastrana of the Conservative Party, favors International Monetary Fund-backed neoliberal economic policies of austerity and privatization.
The Colombian Armed Forces: The U.S.-trained Armed Forces officially includes about 145,000 soldiers, mostly draftees. Many of the generals have been linked to gross human rights violations by international human rights groups. In addition to the Armed Forces, the 105,000 National Police engage in combat against the insurgencies. A host of other special units reinforce these main forces.
The revolutionary insurgencies: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are the country’s two largest guerrilla armies, together administering about 50 percent of the Colombian national territory. They are fighting for fundamental social change, including land reform, social ownership of the country’s wealth, and a restructuring of the Armed Forces.
The paramilitary death squads: Colombia's government uses paramilitary death squads as a matter of counterinsurgency policy. Right-wing paramilitary organizations like the “United Self-Defense Units of Colombia” (AUC) routinely attack the civilian population in an effort to terrorize the population into not supporting the insurgencies or the popular mass movements. They maintain close links with the Armed Forces—in many cases carrying out orders directly on behalf of the Army and security agencies—and have received organizational support from the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. The death squads and armed forces combined are responsible for the vast majority of the at least 40,000 Colombians killed in the last ten years.
The mass movements: Colombian workers, peasants, students, and others have powerful and militant mass organizations, carrying out vast protest campaigns despite death squad and government terror. For example, in September 1999, 20 million Colombians staged a two-day general strike against the government’s neoliberal economic policies.
The political situation
In January 1999, President Pastrana opened talks with the FARC-EP on the possibility of a political solution to the 35-year old insurgency. As a precondition to the talks, the government withdrew the armed forces from five municipalities, roughly the size of Switzerland. The FARC-EP now administers that zone.
As part of the dialogs, the FARC-EP has held a number of Public Audiences, where Colombians can travel to the zone in order to bring proposals or to have their concerns heard by the FARC-EP and the government representatives.
In holding talks with the FARC-EP, Pastrana’s government has recognized the political nature of the movement.
The talks have stalled often due to the new conditions imposed by the government. The FARC-EP insist that they are willing to continue discussions to address the social changes needed to end the conflict in Colombia—but that they are willing to continue their struggle if the government refuses to carry out social change.
Pastrana has also recognized the political status of the ELN and has made some moves to opening talks with them. The ELN advocates a National Convention to address Colombia’s social problems.
U.S. intervention
In 1998, after a series of stunning military victories by the FARC-EP, the United States government dramatically increased its military aid to Colombia. Military funding tripled from $89 million in 1997 to $289 million in 1998. This funding included advanced Blackhawk attack helicopters and sophisticated intelligence equipment. The United States is Colombia’s largest trading partner and principal arms supplier.
In December 1998, the Clinton administration announced plans to build a joint U.S.-Colombian military base in Colombia. The U.S. also began to train an elite 1,000-troop counterinsurgency battalion, using trainers from the elite U.S. “Green Berets.” The U.S. admits to having between 200 and 300 combat troops in Colombia at any one time.
In June 2000, the U.S. Congress passed a $1.3 billion military aid bill. Ninety percent of those funds go to Colombia’s armed forces and police. The bill provides 42 Huey and 18 Blackhawk helicopters, along with Special Forces training for two more elite combat units. The main objective of the aid package is the “push into the South,” a FARC-EP stronghold.
The Colombian revolutionaries and mass movements have called the package a “declaration of war.”
“Plan Colombia”
The U.S. aid package is part of a massive $7.5 billion program called “Plan Colombia.” This plan, drawn up by Washington and articulated by President Pastrana, is a rescue package for Colombia’s ruling elite. It’s centerpiece is the U.S. military aid. The European Union, Japan, and other countries are being asked to provide economic aid for the notoriously corrupt Colombian government to hand out.
A wide number of Colombian labor, community and human rights groups have gone on record opposing the Plan Colombia.
The “war on drugs”
The dramatic escalation of U.S. intervention in Colombia is being portrayed by the U.S. State Department as part of the “war on drugs.” U.S. and State Department propagandists claim that the FARC-EP is involved in the cocaine industry in Colombia.
This lie has been challenged by the likes of President Andres Pastrana and former U.S. ambassador to Colombia Myles Frechette. Even the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency admitted in an Aug. 1, 1999 interview with Bogota’s El Tiempo that they had no evidence that the FARC-EP was involved with drug trafficking.
The FARC-EP does impose heavy taxes on drug cartels operating in its zones of control. It also forces drug traffickers to pay peasant growers a fair wage. But this hardly makes the FARC-EP and the drug kingpins allies. On the contrary, the drug lords work hand in hand with the paramilitary death squads to fight the FARC-EP
In June 2000, the FARC-EP hosted a conference in the zone on Illegal Drug Crops and the Environment. FARC-EP spokesperson Raul Reyes put forward a far-reaching zone to demonstrate his organization’s commitment to eradicating drugs with a pilot crop substitution program in Cartegena de Chairá. Both the Colombian government and the U.S. government oppose this program.
Links to Colombia news and information
New Colombia News Agency ANNCOL home.swipnet.se/anncol/index.htm
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army FARC-EP tierra.ucsd.edu/farc-ep
National Liberation Army ELN www.eln-voces.com
Revolutionary and Popular Movements in Colombia (list of links) www.neravt.com/left/colombia.htm
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