GRANMA: US Soldiers, from Manta to Colombia

[magbana]

"Havana. May 4, 2009

U.S. SOLDIERS
From Manta to Colombia

Joaquín Rivery Tur

AS the saying goes, "there’s no smoke without fire." The confirmation of all the rumors has finally come and it was logical to expect.

U.S. military operations at the Manta air base in Ecuador are to be transferred to Colombian territory after Quito’s refusal to extend the agreement that allowed the Pentagon’s Southern Command to utilize the facility located in the vicinity of the Pacific coast for its own ends.

Without doubt, this is a blow for U.S. foreign policy, representing another door that has closed south of the Rio Grande and the fact that it has increasingly fewer options given the changes currently taking place on the continent.

Some days ago, William Brownfield, the U.S. ambassador in Bogotá, acknowledged that his government "is analyzing the possibility" of using Colombian bases to continue with the operations that were previously carried out in Manta.

This is a logical move. Washington has financed the official offensive against guerrilla organizations to the tune of $5 billion-plus. It would be quite difficult for the Colombians to refuse.

According to some, that funding has been used to upgrade a number of air bases used for attacking guerrilla forces and it wouldn’t require a large investment to adapt them for U.S. air traffic within the zone, supposedly to combat drug-trafficking, although it is also suspected that they are also keeping watch on neighboring countries, utilizing much more high-tech equipment, which could include intercepting communications.

When Brownfield made the statement, political and military observers believed that an agreement had already been made, or was about to be, given that an operation such as this takes a considerable amount of time to organize and the Southern Command has known of Rafael Correa’s intentions to close the U.S base since 2006.

Colombia is an ideal candidate for such a move, given that that government has the closest links to the United States in the Andean region and is almost the only one who would accept a transfer from Manta or any of its other operations.

The restless situation in Latin America and Washington’s loss of prestige caused by its genocidal wars in the Muslim world is making it very difficult for the Pentagon to aspire to opening a base under its own command in the region and for that reason, the official statement by the U.S. ambassador indicates that this issue merely concerns a transfer of operations.

Last February 27, El Tiempo daily reported that the Colombia Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had discussed the issue in Washington over a four-day period.

"We are increasing cooperation in every sense of the word. Part of this concerns (U.S.) access to our bases and this is what we are currently negotiating," Santos stated.

El Tiempo clarified that government sources from the two countries had confirmed that they were negotiating an increase in the number of U.S. military planes in Colombia, as well as the deployment of radars and satellite intelligence equipment in that nation, which had not been considered in previous cooperation agreements.

Everything indicates that the U.S. petitions were extensive and included the use of new techniques.

Later, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez reiterated that negotiations with Washington were underway regarding changes in operations carried out on his country’s territory.

There are still no details on the potential location of the U.S. air force or the number of bases that might be used, although certain commentators believe that the U.S. command will be large.

The foreign minister was anxious to clarify that the agreement is not intended to generate tensions with Ecuador or Venezuela because, as he stated, the agreement poses no threat to neighboring countries.

In any event, many still recall the threatening presence of U.S. vessels off the Venezuelan coast during the coup d’état in 2002 and Washington’s support for the failed coup faction.

But things are far more advanced than has been stated because General Freddy Padilla, chief of the Colombian Army, has acknowledged that, although "the small print of the cooperation agreement with Washington", has still not be finalized, U.S. planes employed in the war on drug trafficking have been authorized to make "logistic" use of Colombian bases. Thus, the agreement is already underway.
"
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/mayo/lun4/18colombia.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. So this should be interesting, shouldn't it? It may be good to keep an eye on Peru, too.

Can't really rule out the chance Alan Garcia would leap at the chance to rake in some additional revenue from the US by allowing an installation there. They've already been creeping around in the mountains pretending they are there for "humanitarian" objectives, building hospitals, etc. Right.

Thanks, magbana. Very useful information.

[Texano78704]

2. No surprises

This was the move that was expected. Although it would have been interesting if the Obama administration would have ceded to Ecuador's demands for a base in Miami.