On the road to militarization 

Friday,  April 4,  2003 <a href=www.lapress.org>LATIN AMERICA Andrés Gaudin.  Apr 3, 2003

US increases military exercises in region in war against terrorism. Under the pretext of combating terrorism, the United States plans to escalate its military build-up in Latin America. Until at least June of this year, US soldiers and military instructors are to be sent to countries across the region with the objective of carrying out bilateral or multilateral air, river and land exercises. With long-term operations already being conducted in several countries, analysts have stated that this new military build-up could lead the way to the militarization of Latin America. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George Bush has asserted that Latin America could become the next operative base of Islamic groups such as Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. In the first half of this year, new operations are to be implemented in Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Argentina, where Exercise Eagle III will involve air forces from the US and six other Southern Cone countries. There is already a strong US military presence in the Andean region, the Amazon Basin and Central America, and plans are being developed to set up a customs and migration control program that would be supervised by the US. “One could say that Latin America is on its way to becoming a militarized region dedicated to the warmongering strategies of the White House,” said Dominican congressman Pelegrín Castillo. Operation New Horizons, which began last January and was due to run until May 31, aimed to bring some 400 US troops to the Dominican Republic every month. On March 17, however, Maj Gen. Carlos Diaz Morfa, head of the Dominican Army announced the suspension of any further joint military exercises due to the impending war in Iraq. Nonetheless, it is estimated that over one hundred US soldiers remain on Dominican soil, carrying out social programs such as the building of schools and rural clinics. A further phase of Operation New Horizons is scheduled in Paraguay between April and June. Southern Command Special Operation forces will be sent to train Paraguayan forces in anti-terrorism strategies. However, the most significant military exercises are planned for next June in Argentina, involving forces from the US, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. “Eagle III will have the added attraction of including the participation of the US Air Force, which will provide F-16s and a team of instructors highly experienced in real conflict situations,” said Commodore Jorge Reta, head of information for the Argentine Air Force. The Argentine minister of defense, Eduardo Jaunarena, has said that the US will bankroll a large part of Eagle III expenses. He admitted, however, that Congress has yet to formally authorize the entry of foreign troops into the country. Last December, the foreign ministries of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay agreed to a US proposal to carry out the joint patrolling of the Iguazú and Paraná rivers. It is still unknown when this operation will begin but the Pentagon has said that it will provide personnel, speedboats and radar equipment. Both rivers run across the so-called Triple Frontier, the shared border area of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. The population of the zone is estimated at 200,000 people, including 30,000 of Arab descent (LP, Nov. 5, 2001). From the mid-90s, both the CIA and the FBI have considered the zone a haven for active and “sleeper” cells of Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. However, the Argentine vice-chancellor, Martin Redrado, retorted late last year that “no terrorist activities, whether current or in their formative stages, have been detected. The same applies to the existence of sleeper cells.” The US also intends to increase its presence in Latin America by creating a naval cordon to shield the Atlantic and Pacific coasts “from the entry of terrorist groups.” The idea was presented by the US defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, at the Summit of Ministers of Defense of the Americas in Chile last December. According to Jaunarena, the plan — outlined in the document “New Threats to Regional Security” — will be debated in a future meeting of ministers of defense. A US global customs system has also been formulated via a resolution passed by the Treasury Oct. 31, 2002. “The resolution decrees that US Customs will have their own personnel at our ports,” said lawyer Arturo Ravina. “This cannot be justified as a part of the fight against terrorism. Moreover, it is the first step towards establishing a control over our countries’ immigration,” he said. The US has already cited the war on terrorism as justification for stationing forces and intelligence personnel at bases in Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Uruguay and the Triple Frontier countries. In May, US marines will cease their long-term military maneuvers on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. Ever since marine jets accidentally killed a civilian in 1999, hundreds of protestors have regularly disrupted exercises at the bombing range (LP, March 6, 2000 and Sept. 10, 2001). Meanwhile, the US has stepped up its military involvement in the conflict in Colombia, which many critics say will only serve to escalate the situation (LP, March 12, 2002). In 2000, US$1.3 billion of military aid was granted under Plan Colombia. (LP, April 10, 2000). The Pentagon has described the plan as being of an intermediate operational level, turning it over to two private armies, Military Professional Resources Incorporated and DynCorp. Argentine analyst Gabriel Tokatlian has warned of “the dangerous possibility of privatizing armed conflicts. The commercialization of the region’s security matters could be the threshold of a new form of internationalized private war,” he said.