SOUTH AMERICAN WAR

Curious about the recent news of a possible war in South America, I have decided to search the internet to understand this historical process, and I didn’t find anything in English that I could consider without an unreasonable bias towards the American plans of intervention in the region; or even totally driven by a obsolete view of revolutionary communism.

I don’t believe in war under unreasonable circumstances. However; I found this interesting article. I am translating this text written by a Brazilian Journalist few years ago (2004); it is a contribution to make other ideas available to everyone who desires to understand both sides of the same situation.
Well, the Colombian official report is available on thousand of other publications.

It seems that FARC is not just a terrorist group, and the sequence of events described will show that. Venezuela and Equator should be cautious and collectively discuss every single troop movement to avoid unstable situation at the holy region, including Brazil. And the American population should know details before paying this bill.
I don’t want see my taxes money wasted again, DO YOU ?

TRANSLATION

FARC : 40 years background
From the Colombian jungle, a Brazilian correspondent analyses the oldest South American insurgence: FARC. By Yuri Martins to Reportagem Magazine.

Following stock market crash in 1929, for the first time the world was looking for alternatives to the orthodox liberalism, the capitalist dogma since 19th century. The state intervention was recognized as a possible relief for the economies destroyed by the US market crisis. Several urgent measures were necessary to respond the needs and interests of national aristocrats in dependent countries.

In Latin America, this “historical turn-around” was leaded by Cardenas in Mexico, Peron in Argentina and Vargas in Brazil. The oil nationalization and industrial investment were landmarks of this important moment. In Colombia, however, the conservative party’s power aligned with the American expansionist police, did not allowed the progressist reform to take its place.

In 1948, the crescent multi national control of the economy created social conflicts. A civil war was initiated by small socialist groups against the conservative government. The first scenes of this conflict are well described on the master piece “Cem anos de solidao” written by Gabriel Garcia Marques.
After 16 years of fight and several advances of the leftist; the liberal party tried to stop the political socialism advance; especially after the socialist unexpected victories under the Cuban revolutionary view. The liberal party shifted sides, and made an agreement with the conservative party.

In May 27th 1964, thousands of militaries were sent to a small village of Marquetalia to reprimand 48 communist small farmers, who ran away to the jungle. This date is considered the foundation of the biggest and oldest insurgence in America: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). For the last 40 years, the half hundred rebels lead by Manuel Marulanda – historically called “right shot” – became a political armed force with 30 thousand men, divided in 60 regions and acting all over the national Colombian territory.
In July 1964, a rebel’s assembly defined an agrarian program to be the first goal for the revolutionaries. The rebel combatants also initiated a political fight for all their folks.

NOTË: THIS YEAR A MILITARY ACTION HAS OVERTAKEN THE BRAZILIAN GOVERMENT FOR THE NEXT 21 YEARS

Under these circumstances of total repression, in 1964 other revolutionist groups have aroused with distinct type of organization and ideological concepts, like the National Freedom Arm (ELN), with a Che Guevara orientation; or the Folks Arm for freedom (EPL), with a Chinese ideological view.
It is also from the same period of time the dissolution of liberal rebels in Colombia; without reason to fight, these groups became mercenaries; and also were recruited by powerful farmers; creating the first armed non-militaries “paraco” groups. These groups are currently serving multi national companies and big drug dealers in the region.

Fort the last few years, with the US intervention named "Plan Colombia"; the peace agreement became much more difficult. Following several attempts made by the liberal government of Pastrana; the current President Uribe, linked with agrarian patrons and a close friend of the US corporations, is looking for a bloody solution to exterminate the communist revolutionary groups.
Meanwhile, there is a bad social situation in Colombia, with more than 60% of the population living under poverty. Several pamphlets around the country have exposed the announced tragic: "Plan Colombia, los gringos ponen las armas, Colombia pone los muertos"; which means “America will place the weapons, Colombia will place the dead people”.

The rural part of the country is today a land without law; where there is fear and mystery. Para-militaries groups are frequently performing attacks and genocide of rural people on the roads and small villages. Despite of the extreme violence of these fascist groups; in 2003, President Uribe has assigned a suspicious agreement of surrender and forgiveness with the largest para-military group called United Self Defense of Colombia (AUC); a group of about 5,000 mercenaries. I received direct information from the people that those soldiers are the same working disguised for both sides; they just use the Colombian army uniform with the AUC symbol. They don’t even change the uniform. This is a way that Government is using to take non-popular action against people – such as the elimination of entire villages who support the FARC soldiers.

This recent agreement with total forgiveness to AUC seems to confirm not only the strange link between a para-military group and the Colombian army; but also represents an enforcement of the accusations against the President being associated with the extreme rightist mercenary group.

The strong military and economical US support, and a massive propaganda to classify FARC as part of the “evil axis” allowed the tactics of war to be more aggressive and open to the public.
Besides all the para-military and state implemented terror in Colombia; whoever tried to understand the situation in Colombia will also face the “bandoleiros”; bands of thieves who use the conflict opportunity to practice assaults on the roads. This difficult the relocation, staying, and consequent news acquisition about the reality in Colombia.

We will be able to receive some information through the magazines and news; however, the information is fragmented and superficial, since all the information will be compromised with the ideology and goals of capital owners; exactly what happens with any “dirty press”. Then, it is not important to deal with the reasons that brought the people to insurgency. The same irresponsible service of disinformation could be seen in all subversive conflicts, such as MST (Brazil) or EZLN (Mexico)

Following 9/11, the world became even more polarized. Any confrontation with the fundamental neo-liberal regimen became a severe offense. Subversives became terrorists; and it is easier to sell the “good settler Samaritan”, who bombs, invade and kills in name of “right God”

This year (2004); the failed Colombia Plan; put in place allegedly to eradicate the cocaine plantation; received a modern substitute called Patriot Plan (note: not talking about Patriot Act, this is about Colombia only). Practically this plan is similar to the previous one; reinforced with other billions of dollars. This plan consists of a massive military intervention on the heart of the South American Amazon; with a clear economical, political and territorial objective. The region is full of good water, oil, minerals and great biodiversity; among other healthy things.
The official government is supported by US with weapons, money, military training and even toxic substances to be spread around the country’s jungle, where the guerrillas are hidden. Fumigation poisons are already creating health problems on the communities in Colombia


The contaminated rivers will end at the Brazilian Amazon. If chemical weapons were utilized in that region, an ecological short-term catastrophe is anticipated.
Despite of the mega US investment, FARC didn’t stop fighting. In 2003 there were 12 combats a day; where more than 5,000 militaries have died; on the guerrilla side an estimation of 700 soldiers or supporting civilians were killed (Data form NGO’s).
FARC is composed of extra three different group of people. 1) Armed civilians who support the guerillas with secret intelligence actions. 2) At state capitals, FARC revolutionary forces are based on the clandestine Communist party.3) Around all the country FARC has sympathizers; who are non armed civilians and idealistic people that give food support, for example.
Most of the FARC guerrillas’ soldiers are poor small farmers; the misery brought them to Guerillas, and there they learned how to read and fight. Others, wit more education, see on the FARC the only chance for political changes in the country. Those are prepared for the guerrilla command; studying politics, psychology and economy.
A lot of discussion is about the financial support for the FARC. The General Secretary of the FARC, Raul Reyes, has stated:

“The FARC is a folk rebellion arm; taking resources from the country’s economy: which is Oil, Coffee, Minerals, Cattle, Cotton, Coca and Papoula. FARC charges taxes from capitalists who have more than a million dollars. We don’t ask the transporters for example, if the trunks were bought with drug’s money. FARC guerrillas do not have coca plantations; or sell favors to drug dealers. FARC lives with the country’s economy; despite of all the massive campaign lead by US with the intention of demoralization; showing us not as a revolutionary force but as drug-dealers, and lately narco-terrorists. But is normal that US will do that, because we are their enemies and , therefore, they do what they should do”....


The author, Yuri Martins Fontes, is a Philosopher and Engineer. Published on Reportagem , da Oficina de Informações, July, 2004. (11-3814-9030), at Rua Fidalga, 146, São Paulo (SP).


PLEASE SEE OTHER FACTS ABOUT COLOMBIA
FROM:
http://www.cpt.org/archives/signs/2007/spring07.php

Colombia: Eradicating Coca Civilians
by Michele Braley & Julián Gutiérrez

Mr. Didier raises plantains on his small farm. Once a month he travels three hours to town to sell his crop. After subtracting the cost of supplies and transportation, he earns about $95* each month to meet the needs of his wife and six children.


Mr. Argemiro grows corn. Every six months he takes is harvest to sell in town. With a little luck, he will bring home a total of $475 for his family of seven to survive for the next six months.


Mr. Génaro cultivates beans. Every six months he hopes to sell about forty bushels and make $500 which will have to last until the next harvest. He supports his wife, eight children and two grandchildren.






Corn damaged by fumigation

These are just some of the subsistence farmers CPTers met in the community of Corcovado in the southern part of the province of Bolívar. Some farmers in the area also cultivate coca (the plant from which cocaine is made). None of them cultivates more than a hectare (2½ acres).


Why do small farmers cultivate illegal coca in addition to food crops in Southern Bolívar? With one hectare of coca, a farmer can make $500 every three months after subtracting costs for supplies, transportation and “taxes” to the armed forces, paramilitaries and guerrillas. Unlike legal produce, coca is the only crop that will give them a margin of income sufficient to meet their basic needs.


Furthermore, according to farmers, if they try to stop growing coca, the armed groups will increase their “taxes” to coerce them into continuing coca cultivation. Many in the community do not support the growing of coca, but they understand the dilemma of their neighbors.


Twice a year, the Colombian government arrives in the region – not to fix the road, or build a high school, or supply the health center with much needed medical equipment, but to fumigate the coca. During their visit to Corcovado, CPTers witnessed and documented the impact of these efforts to eradicate coca through aerial fumigation.


Farmers complained that the fumigations rarely fall on their targets. Instead, winds blow the chemical over the fields of yucca, cacao, plantain, corn and beans, ruining months of work and an already fragile economy. They showed CPTers food crops damaged by aerial spraying next to small fields of unfumigated coca. They spoke of the foul odor that accompanies the fumigation and of the many people who have become ill with headaches, fevers and stomach complaints.


Some of the fumigation pilots, speaking informally with CPTers at a swimming pool in Barrancabermeja (where the team is based), said they know where to spray because coca plants are low to the ground and light green, easily recognizable among the mostly dark green vegetation. Yet, team members saw palm trees more than twenty feet tall that had been sprayed while nearby coca plants remained unharmed. “I wish the pilots were more intelligent,” remarked one farmer.


Aerial fumigation is part of the $446 million “Plan Colombia” aid package the U.S. provides to Colombia. Congress must approve the aid each year. In 2006 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, “I hereby determine and certify that: (1) the herbicide mixture used for fumigation of illicit crops in Colombia is being used in accordance with EPA label requirements; (2) the herbicide does not pose unreasonable risks or adverse effects to humans or the environment; (3) that complaints of harm to health or licit crops are evaluated and fair compensation is being paid; and (4) that programs are being implemented in consultation with local communities, to provide alternative sources of income for small-acreage growers whose illicit crops are targeted for fumigation.”


Farmers in Corcovado say they’ve never heard of a complaint process, much less received any compensation. One farmer remarked, “Fumigation isn’t the answer, economic development is the answer.” How long will this community wait for the “alternative sources of income” the U.S. government has promised every year since 2002 in the certification of aerial fumigation?

* figures in U.S. dollars

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Colombia: The Patriot Plan
by Nils Dybvig

“Plan Patriota” (the Patriot Plan) is part of the military component of Plan Colombia – the U.S. government-funded program for combating the drug trade and, unofficially, left-wing guerrilla groups.


CPTers visiting the department (province) of Nariño in the southwest corner of Colombia saw the Plan in full force. Nariño is small in population – 1.77 million people, but full of soldiers – one for every 127 residents.


Living in Colombia, one becomes accustomed to seeing soldiers carrying M-16 rifles in commercial districts, traveling the city streets by motorcycle or truck, and stationed at checkpoints along the roads. In Nariño however, the military presence feels overwhelming. Tanks and armored personnel carriers line the highways and fill city streets with soldiers. At military checkpoints, soldiers demand ID, pat people down and search vehicles more than once.


The real impact of the militarization, however, is felt in the relatively unspoiled mountainous rainforest that still covers much of Nariño. These mountains provide sustenance for hundreds of small indigenous, afro-Colombian and campesino communities that existed long before any state presence in the area. Roads and government services do not reach them, and until recently, they lived quiet lives. Although guerrilla groups arrived in these remote parts of Nariño a few years ago, little conflict resulted.


The influx of military personnel and equipment have brought armed assaults on civilian communities as well as guerrilla encampments. In July, 92 members of an indigenous group, 31 of them children, fled their homes and took shelter in a school where they remained for two days without food or water. In another community, the Colombian Air Force bombed the school building.


Since July 2006, five forced displacements of civilian communities in Nariño rendered 4000 people homeless. Displaced persons are reluctant to return home even after a military incursion subsides. They fear that the guerrillas or the army may come back and accuse them of collaborating with the opposing group.


Although Plan Patriota seems to be more about propaganda than seriously defeating the guerrillas, Colombia’s President just approved “Plan Victoria,” the next phase of the military campaign. Meanwhile, the civilians in these mountains continue losing their homes, their livelihoods, and often their lives.

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Colombia: Action Alert
Despite worsening human rights abuses by the Colombian military, forced displacement of civilian communities, and inhumane, ineffective aerial spraying programs, Presidents Bush (U.S.) and Uribe (Colombia) recently proposed “Plan Colombia 2" – five more years of the same bad policy.


The plan would maintain similar levels of U.S. military aid through 2013: $446 million a year, which represents 76% of the total aid package for Colombia.
The U.S. Congress will vote on the foreign aid bill, which contains Plan Colombia 2, in the coming weeks. This new Congress has the opportunity to change the course of U.S. policy in Colombia.

Call members of Congress (202-224-3121). Urge them to:

Drastically reduce military aid to Colombia. The Colombian military has been implicated in numerous acts of human rights abuse and there is mounting evidence of military collusion with illegal paramilitaries.
Increase social aid to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis in Colombia. U.S. aid should support the victims of the conflict (including more than 3 million internally displaced persons), judicial reform, and lasting peace, not more bloodshed.
Support alternative development for rural farmers, not fumigation. Invest in treatment programs at home to reduce the demand for drugs.
Ask Congress to tell the chair of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee that aid priorities to Colombia should be significantly shifted. House – Nita Lowey (D-NY); Senate – Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
For more information contact the Latin America Working Group: www.lawg.org