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[NOTE: Squeezed between the servile imperialist running-dogs
Fujimori and Menem the Colombian people will be counting more dead and
displaced for years to come. -DG]
Menem offered political and military support to the United States, and
dissuaded McCaffrey from pursuing a negotiated peace agreement in favor
of forceful intervention-just what Clinton's envoy wanted to hear.
IN THESE TIMES
October 26, 1999
NATO Tango
Argentine President Carlos Menem has made clear his support for
U.S. initiatives in Colombia, promising political and military support.
By Travis Lea
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- The renewed U.S. interest in Colombia's
civil war has made the country's neighbors suspicious of Washington's motives.
In the wake of the Kosovo conflict, South American leaders are wondering
if the next international military intervention might take place in their
own backyard. At the same time, now that U.S. troops are pulling out of
Panama, the military may be looking for a new strategic partner in the
hemisphere. Their most likely ally: Argentina.
Argentina is already the only country in Latin America that is an associate
member of NATO (the others in the world are Australia, New Zealand, Israel
and Egypt). President Carlos Menem gladly sent 250 soldiers to Kosovo in
June, and offered to send double that amount. Ever since the Balkan bombing
ended, Argentina has been practically begging for full NATO membership,
to the dismay of all its neighbors.
In July, Menem's request to become a full NATO member was denied. But
the rejection may only make Argentina more eager to please the United States,
in keeping with Menem's policy toward Washington. At the behest of the
United States, Argentina participated in American interventions in Iraq
and more recently was part of the U.N. force in East Timor. The two countries
occasionally perform joint military exercises.
Menem made clear his country's support for U.S. initiatives
in Colombia, when U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey came to Buenos Aires in
late August to discuss "regional strategic affairs." Menem offered political
and military support to the United States, and dissuaded McCaffrey from
pursuing a negotiated peace agreement in favor of forceful intervention-just
what Clinton's envoy wanted to hear.
Menem will leave office in December after 10 years in power. One
of the cornerstones of his presidency has been a strengthening of economic
and political relations with the developed world. Argentina, which boasts
one of the strongest economies in the region, has become popular with the
International Monetary Fund and Wall Street for its fiscal policies that
favor foreign investment. "Instead of playing the loser and playing with
the poor of the world," says Thomas Scheetz, an American professor and
military analyst who has lived in Argentina for the past 15 years. "It
was decided that they ought to play with the powerful of the world and
then become part of it."
Looking to preserve its alliance with Argentina, during his visit McCaffrey
also met with the country's two main presidential contenders: Eduardo Duhalde
of the ruling Peronist Party and Buenos Aires Mayor Fernando De La Rua,
the likely winner. Argentina's relationship to the United States is always
a campaign issue, but neither candidate has endorsed U.S. intervention
in Colombia as eagerly as Menem.
As the United States gropes about for a strategic partner for some possible
intervention in Colombia, Argentina's alignment with the United States
on military issues is making many others in the region nervous. The countries
that border Colombia do not want to intervene there, and deny the U.S.
claim that the conflict in Colombia is principally a drug war. "If at some
point there was a need to intervene with an international peacekeeping
force in Colombia, would it be the United Nations or the Organization of
American States?" asks Rosendo Fraga, director of the Union for a New Majority,
a local think tank for regional military affairs. "What's the standard?
Can NATO play a role or not? These are debates that we now have to face
after Kosovo, and for now, there are not any clear answers."
While Argentina has promised to send troops to Colombia if requested
by the United States, Brazil, Peru and other South American countries have
been stepping up talks on creating regional military alliances to counterbalance
the power of NATO as a global gendarme. When Washington tested the waters
for military cooperation with Brazil, President Rafael Cardoso said he
opposed outside intervention in Colombia. A week later, he backpedaled,
saying he'd rather see South American troops come to help than a force
led by Washington.
Fernando Roman of the human rights group HIJOS cautions
that the United States already has a bad track record. "With the same pretext
they used to finance their dirty war in Nicaragua," he says, "they're going
to create a new Vietnam, claiming they're going to fight narco-trafficking."
The American public may or may not believe the United States has
national security concerns in Colombia. But if Washington plans to increase
its involvement, it's going to have to do a lot more work to convince this
half of the Americas.
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