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June 1999 NewsCSN Home | Report on U.S. Position |
The Colombia Support Network urges you to read the following letter drafted by the CSN--Madison chapter which will be sent to Wisconsin Congresspeople this week. We encourage you to take a stance on the subject and express your concerns through letters written to your respective legislators. Early protest by American citizens will give a head start to the opposition to this proposal made by the Organization of American States.
The proposal aims to create a multinational military force to intervene in internal conflicts (as in Yugoslavia) to protect democracy in a "threatened" environment. Public pressure on the individuals who concoct such proposals, or to those that vote to put them into action, has proven effective on numerous occasions. Our voices of protest toward the most recent OAS agenda must be heard.
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June 15, 1999
Colombia Support Network
The Honorable Senator _________ Dear Senator ________, We the undersigned are very concerned about a proposal made by the Clinton administration at a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) a few days ago in Guatemala. This proposal would create a multinational military force to intervene in internal conflicts where "democracy" in being threatened. This proposal, which stunned Latin American nations, is an apparent effort to obtain OAS approval for a U.S. led strike force, similar to that used by NATO in Kosovo-Yugoslavia, which would intervene in any Latin American country with a "democratic" facade whose government is under attack, such as is currently happening in Colombia. The U.S. is already distrusted at best, detested at worst, throughout Latin America because of a long list of ignominious actions in nearly every country -- Chile, Guatemala, Brazil -- actions that years later the U.S. seems to deny, distance itself from or even (and rarely) apologize for. It is apparent to the citizenry in Latin America that such heavy handed U.S. intervention is not to promote democracy, but is a thinly disguised effort to protect U.S. companies' access to raw materials, cheap labor, and their markets by intervening militarily to establish "stability." We oppose this most recent effort at armed intervention through proxy armies as yet another example of thinly disguised U.S. military interference in Latin American countries. We urge you to voice your disapproval of this interventionism to President Clinton and Secretary of State Albright and to vote against any measure which may be introduced in Congress to support this type of intervention in Latin America. Sincerely, ________________ |