WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #487, MAY 30, 1999
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339
LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
I
*4. ECUADOR, ARUBA, CURACAO: US HEDGING ITS BASES?
On May 5 (or May 1 according to the Washington Post) the US shut
down its anti-drug center at Howard Air Force Base and turned over
control of the base to Panama, in compliance with the 1977 Panama
Canal Treaties, which stipulate that all US forces must be out when
the Canal reverts to Panamanian control at midnight on Dec. 31,
1999. US aircraft flew about 2,000 surveillance missions out of
Howard in 1998, gathering intelligence for the US and for counter-
drug forces in other countries in the region, US officials said. The
anti-drug center, which operated at Howard under the control of the
Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South (JIATF-South) will be relocated
to the island of Key West in Florida, according to a US military source.
JIATF-South will run the anti-drug center on Key West in conjunction
with the general headquarters of the US Army Southern Command
(USSOUTHCOM), and with the support of "forward operating
locations" or "staging centers" [see Update #462] in Aruba, Curacao
and Ecuador. [La Prensa (Honduras) 5/3/99 from AP; El Diario-La
Prensa 5/6/99 from AFP; La Nacion (Costa Rica) 5/11/99 from AFP;
WP 5/30/99; Associated Press 5/14/99]
One of these flight "locations" began operating on Apr. 1 at an
Ecuadoran military base in the port city of Manta, in Manabi
province on Ecuador's central coast [see Update #474]. Some 200 US
troops will be stationed at the Manta base, rotating out every 15
days. The plan has stirred controversy in Ecuador, although officials
insist that the base will remain under Ecuadoran control at all times.
[El Telegrafo (Guayaquil) 5/8/99]
Two more staging centers will be established in the Dutch colonies of
Aruba and Curacao in the Caribbean Sea, just off the coast of
Venezuela. The US has signed interim agreements governing the use
of these locations: the agreement with Ecuador on the use of the
Manta base ends in September; the agreement with the Netherlands
on the use of Aruba and Curacao expires next April. [AP 5/14/99]
The US has asked for permission "to fly over Venezuelan territory
toward Colombia," Venezuelan interior minister Luis Miquilena told
Associated Press on May 14. Hoping to win cooperation, the US
"invited the Venezuelan Air Force to station personnel in Aruba and
Curacao to ride any US aircraft that overflies Venezuelan territory
and to share fully any information gathered on narcotics trafficking,"
according to a May 13 statement from the US State Department.
Miquilena said the government would "thoroughly evaluate the
request," but noted that "Venezuelans are very sensitive about
sovereignty." The government was especially concerned because the
US "not only has surveillance planes in the Curacao and Aruba bases,
but also F-16s, which are war planes," said Miquilena. [AP 5/14/99]
In an interview published on May 23 in the Caracas daily El
Universal, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez Frias said that US
overflights would not be allowed. "We cannot accept that any foreign
military plane fly over our territory without our authorization, and
we're not going to authorize it," said Chavez. He noted that Venezuela
would not interfere with the US plan to establish a base on Curacao
because it is governed by a treaty between the US and Netherlands,
and "because we respect people's right to self-determination and
national sovereignty." "But even as we respect that and cannot
denounce or criticize it," said Chavez, "we hope that the US
government will understand and respect our position [on the
overflights]. I sure they will understand and respect it." [El Diario-La
Prensa 5/24/99 from EFE; Agence France Presse 5/23/99] Colombia
is said to be considering a US request to fly over its territory.
[Agencia Informativa Pulsar 5/13/99] [Maps show that while the
most direct flight route to any part of Colombia from Aruba or
Curacao would be likely to cross the western part of Venezuela,
planes could also avoid Venezuela and fly directly into Colombia with
what would appear to be only minor inconvenience.]
The US will now look to install a fourth flight location or anti- drug
base in another country, possibly Honduras. [El Nuevo Herald 5/8/99
from Reuters] The Washington Post reported on May 30 that the US
is currently negotiating with Costa Rica over the use of a location for
military anti-drug flights. However, airfields there will require
substantial improvements--including new maintenance facilities and
housing--that will cost more than $100 million, Pentagon officials
said. [WP 5/30/99]
*5. US RELUCTANT TO GIVE UP PANAMA, CITES COLOMBIA REBEL
THREAT
The US efforts to set up flight bases in Latin America and the
Caribbean follows the failure of negotiations between the US and
Panama over the establishment of a "multilateral anti-drug center"
(CMA) in Panama [see Update #481]. Barry McCaffrey, director of the
US Office of Drug Control Policy, charged on May 7 that the
negotiations for the CMA failed because of poor leadership on
Panama's part. "Panama and the US had a private accord that allowed
the creation of the CMA, but the Panamanians withdrew their
support at the last minute for political advantage," said McCaffrey.
Panamanian foreign minister Jorge Ritter denied the charges on May
10, saying McCaffrey was "misinformed." "There was never any
private or public agreement with the US, because we Panamanian
negotiators had very precise instructions from the president that the
CMA could not be, nor appear to be, a military base," said Ritter. The
US wanted the CMA to function for a minimum of 12 years, explained
Ritter, while Panama insisted that the center would have to close in
three years if the conditions for which it was established changed.
According to Ritter, "The US wanted the CMA to also be used for
missions other than fighting drug trafficking"--they had cited, for
example, "humanitarian missions" in case of disasters in Latin
America. "Every time other missions were spoken of, the CMA
appeared more like a military base, and that is why there was no
agreement between the two countries' negotiators," said Ritter.
The subject of the CMA is now "very dead" and "not susceptible to
resurrection," according to Ritter. Panamanian president-elect Mireya
Moscoso, who won elections on May 2 [see Update #484] and will
take office Sept. 1, has also said that as far as she is concerned the
CMA is a closed case. [La Nacion (Costa Rica) 5/11/99 from AFP]
But the Organization Against Military Bases (OCBAM), a coalition of
Panamanian labor unions and professional associations, announced at
a May 18 press conference that the US is continuing its efforts to
keep a US military presence in Panama, and that Moscoso is planning
to negotiate such a presence. Citing the "Hathaway report" of the
Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate, OCBAM charges that
the US is using the fight against drug trafficking and the security of
the Darien region--bordering Colombia and Panama--as pretexts for
seeking further military presence in Panama. [ED-LP 5/19/99 from
EFE]
Panama reinforced police outposts on its Colombian border on May
27, following reports that some 500 FARC troops had crossed the
border into Panama. "We have sent a special commando team to the
area, Panama's interior minister Mariela Sagel told Reuters in a
telephone interview. "The situation is relatively calm there. It can be
dangerous if the situation in Colombia gets worse, but in the
meantime, we will do what we must to keep peace."
The rebels have been hiding in Panama in coastal villages just across
the border from Colombia, villagers told Reuters during a visit to the
area on May 28. Panamanian police, outnumbered by as many as 10-
to-one by rebels, will not confront either guerrillas or paramilitaries
unless attacked, said a police commander who asked not to be
identified. "We've seen guerrillas around in the jungle. They have
visited the towns to buy medicine and food in a peaceful way...but
we will not confront them," he added.
US officials claim the conflict could threaten the security of the
Panama Canal, and charge that the rebels are preparing to spread the
war to Colombia's neighbouring countries. Raul Reyes, spokesperson
of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said
the accusations are a US attempt to keep troops in Panama past the
Dec. 31, 1999 deadline. "They continue to pressure the Panamanian
government in order to not complete the transfer of the canal area,"
Reyes said in an email message to the Panamanian daily El Universal.
[Reuters 5/29/99] [Reuters did not mention that Panama's border
region with Colombia is completely isolated from the rest of Panama;
it is virtually impossible to travel by land to Panama's main cities
and the Canal from the border, since no roads or other thoroughfares
cross the Darien rainforest.]
*6. COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS
On May 24, Colombian defense minister Rodrigo Lloreda urged
President Andres Pastrana Arango to reconsider a decision to extend
FARC control over a demilitarized area indefinitely while peace talks
progress [see Update #486]. "I have many reservations about this
proposal, it seems to me it has to be revised," said Lloreda. "It has
many implications from a legal and military point of view." Ministry
sources said Lloreda sent a memo to Pastrana outlining his objections
to the extension of the zone. "It doesn't seem to me that making this
zone something indefinite will help speed up the peace process," said
Lloreda. "It could mean that the talks will drag out indefinitely."
[Reuters 5/24/99]
In a interview with Radionet news radio on May 25, Lloreda urged
Pastrana to reconsider his decision and warned that the extension of
the peace zone had triggered "a lot of concern" among senior army
commanders and caused friction between the government and
military. Lloreda said neither he nor armed forces chief Gen.
Fernando Tapias had been consulted about the decision, and hinted
that he would expect to resign if Pastrana was "uncomfortable" about
him speaking out in public. [Reuters 5/25/99]
According to Lloreda, the FARC are committing "abuses" in the zone
and "preparing themselves more for war than for peace." [La
Republica (Uruguay) 5/27/99 from AFP] Lloreda said the FARC are
stockpiling weapons, abusing residents and holding kidnapping
victims in the peace zone to keep them out of reach of authorities
until ransom money is paid. [Miami Herald 5/28/99]
Lloreda's May 25 comments prompted a declaration of support from
army commander Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora Rangel, who read a
statement on behalf of the entire military high command backing
Lloreda's position. "We totally identify with the minister of defense
because the armed forces, and the army, consider him the best
minister we've ever had," the statement said. "A permanent
demilitarized zone is inadvisable for the country." [Reuters 5/25/99]
On May 26, Lloreda announced his resignation, saying that Pastrana
had been too conciliatory with the FARC. "There's a lot of concern, in
the military and in the public, about the way the peace process is
going," said Lloreda. The deputy defense minister also resigned, and
local media reported that at least 14 army generals and a number of
other officers submitted resignations. Pastrana quickly accepted
Lloreda's resignation, but after a four-hour meeting with the branch
commanders of the armed forces, announced that he had rejected the
other resignations. He read a statement saying that the institutional
crisis was over and that "the government and the armed forces are
deeply united and identified with the national aim of seeking peace."
[Agence France Presse 5/26/99; MH 5/27/99]
On May 28, Colombia's military rejected what it called "odious"
reports that it had planned a coup attempt after Lloreda resigned. A
May 28 report in the Bogota daily El Tiempo had said that the
country had come dangerously close to a coup attempt on May 26.
[Reuters 5/29/99]
According to a governmental source consulted by the Buenos Aires
daily Clarin, Pastrana stopped the crisis by promising to take the
military's opinions into account in the peace negotiations. The source
said Pastrana is even considering having one retired general and
another active-duty general participate in the talks. However, he
insists he will not back down on the decision to allow continued FARC
control of the peace zone as long as negotiations are moving forward.
[Clarin (Buenos Aires) 5/28/99]
On May 29, Pastrana named Luis Fernando Ramirez, his close political
confidant, as the new defense minister. Ramirez is an accountant and
Harvard graduate with no military background. Speaking at a May
29 press conference, Ramirez said the peace process would be a top
priority: "We can all work together to find a civilized solution to the
armed conflict," he said. Close associates of the new defense minister
described him as a "young executive, with special ties to the private
sector." Ramirez served as labor minister under the 1990-1994
administration of Liberal president Cesar Gaviria, and has worked for
the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has been serving as
adviser to one of Colombia's most influential business associations.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fernando Tapias said the army
would work with Ramirez to further the peace negotiations. "Ramirez
is a distinguished person, with a brilliant background and highly
esteemed by the military," Tapias said. The Army, Air Force and
Navy "extend all their support to the new appointee," he added. [AFP
5/29/99]
The crisis "doesn't affect [the peace process] in any way," FARC
spokesperson Raul Reyes said on May 27. "This process has the
support of the political parties, the business associations, the social
sectors and the media, so the crisis won't cause irreparable
repercussions," Reyes told reporters at a press conference in the
demilitarized zone. [El Nuevo Herald 5/28/99 from AFP]
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