Official US Air Force Document
Reveals the True Intentions Behind the US-Colombia Military Agreement
by Eva Golinger
http://globalresearch.ca/, November
6, 2009
An official document from the Department
of the US Air Force reveals that the military base in Palanquero,
Colombia will provide the Pentagon with "an opportunity for
conducting full spectrum operations throughout South America"
This information contradicts the explainations offered by Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe and the US State Department regarding the
military agreement signed between the two nations this past October
30th. Both governments have publicly stated that the military
agreement refers only to counternarcotics and counterterrorism
operations within Colombian territory. President Uribe has reiterated
numerous times that the military agreement with the US will not
affect Colombia's neighbors, despite constant concern in the region
regarding the true objetives of the agreement. But the US Air
Force document, dated May 2009, confirms that the concerns of
South American nations have been right on target. The document
exposes that the true intentions behind the agreement are to enable
the US to engage in "full spectrum military operations in
a critical sub-region of our hemisphere where security and stability
is under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgenciesand
anti-US governments"
The military agreement between Washington and Colombia authorizes
the access and use of seven military installations in Palanquero,
Malambo, Tolemaida, Larandia, Apíay, Cartagena and Málaga.
Additionally, the agreement allows for "the access and use
of all other installations and locations as necessary" throughout
Colombia, with no restrictions. Together with the complete immunity
the agreement provides to US military and civilian personnel,
including private defense and security contractors, the clause
authorizing the US to utilize any installation throughout the
entire country - even commercial aiports, for military ends, signifies
a complete renouncing of Colombian sovereignty and officially
converts Colombia into a client-state of the US.
The Air Force document underlines the importance of the military
base in Palanquero and justifies the $46 million requested in
the 2010 budget (now approved by Congress) in order to improve
the airfield, associated ramps and other installations on the
base to convert it into a US Cooperative Security Location (CSL).
"Establishing a Cooperative Security Location (CSL) in Palanquero
best supports the COCOM's (Command Combatant's) Theater Posture
Strategy and demonstrates our commitment to this relationship.
Development of this CSL provides a unique opportunity for full
spectrum operations in a critical sub-region of our hemisphere
where security and stability is under constant threat from narcotics
funded terrorist insurgencies, anti-US governments, endemic poverty
and recurring natural disasters."
It's not difficult to imagine which governments in South America
are considered by Washington to be "anti-US governments".
The constant agressive declarations and statements emitted by
the State and Defense Departments and the US Congress against
Venezuela and Bolivia, and even to some extent Ecuador, evidence
that the ALBA nations are the ones perceived by Washington as
a "constant threat". To classify a country as "anti-US"
is to consider it an enemy of the United States. In this context,
it's obvious that the military agreement with Colombia is a reaction
to a region the US now considers full of "enemies".
COUNTERNARCOTICS OPERATIONS ARE SECONDARY
Per the US Air Force document, "Access to Colombia will further
its strategic partnership with the United States. The strong security
cooperation relationship also offers an opportunity for conducting
full spectrum operations throughout South America to include mitigating
the Counternarcotics capability." This statement clearly
evidences that counternarcotics operations are secondary to the
real objetives of the military agreement between Colombia and
Washington. Again, this clearly contrasts the constant declarations
of the Uribe and Obama governments insisting that the main focus
of the agreement is to combat drug trafficking and production.
The Air Force document emphasizes the necessity to improve "full
spectrum" military operations throughout South America -
not just in Colombia - in order to combat "constant threats"
from "anti-US governments" in the region.
PALANQUERO IS THE BEST OPTION FOR CONTINENTAL MOBILITY
The Air Force document explains that "Palanquero is unquestionably
the best site for investing in infrastructure development within
Colombia. Its central location is within reach ofoperations areasits
isolation maximizes Operational Security (OPSEC) and Force Protection
and minimizes the US military profile. The intent is to leverage
existing infrastructure to the maximum extent possible, improve
the US ability to respond rapidly to crisis, and assure regional
access and presence at minimum cost. Palanquero supports the mobility
mission by providing access to the entire South American continent
with the exception of Cape Horn"
ESPIONAGE AND WARFARE
The document additionally confirms that the US military presence
in Palanquero, Colombia, will improve the capacity of espionage
and intelligence operations, and will allow the US armed forces
to increase their warfare capabilities in the region. "Development
of this CSL wil further the strategic partnership forged between
the US and Colombia and is in the interest of both nationsA presence
will also increase our capability to conduct Intelligence, Surveillance
and Reconnaissance (ISR), improve global reach, support logistics
requirements, improve partnerships, improve theater security cooperation
and expand expeditionary warfare capability."
The language of war included in this document evidences the true
intentions behind the military agreement between Washington and
Colombia: they are preparing for war in Latin America. The past
few days have been full of conflict and tension between Colombia
and Venezuela. Just days ago, the Venezuelan government captured
three spies from the Colombian intelligence agency, DAS, and discovered
several active destabilization and espionage operations against
Cuba, Ecuador and Venezuela. The operations - Fénix, Salomón
and Falcón, respectively, were revealed in documents found
with the captured DAS agents. Approximately two weeks ago, 10
bodies were found in Táchira, a border zone with Colombia.
After completing the relevant investigations, the Venezuelan government
discovered that the bodies belonged to Colombian paramilitaries
infiltrated inside Venezuelan territory. This dangerous paramilitary
infiltration from Colombia forms part of a destabilization plan
against Venezuela that seeks to create a paramilitary state inside
Venezuelan territory in order to breakdown President Chávez's
government.
The military agreement between Washington and Colombia will only
increase regional tensions and violence. The information revealed
in the US Air Force document unquestionably evidences that Washington
seeks to promote a state of warfare in South America, using Colombia
as its launching pad. Before this declaration of war, the peoples
of Latin America must stand strong and unified. Latin American
integration is the best defense against the Empire's aggression.
*The US Air Force document was submitted in May 2009 to Congress
as part of the 2010 budget justification. It is an official government
document and reaffirms the authenticity of the White Book: Global
Enroute Strategy of the US Air Mobility Command, which was denounced
by President Chávez during the UNASUR meeting in Bariloche,
Argentina this past August 28th. I have placed the original document
and the non-official translation to Spanish that I did of the
relevant parts relating to Palanquero on the web page of the Center
to Alert and Defend the People "Centro de Alerta para la
Defensa de los pueblos", a new space we are creating to garantee
that strategic information is available to those under constant
threat from imperialist aggression.__
Eva Golinger is a Venezuelan-American
attorney from New York, living in Caracas, Venezuela since 2005
and author of the best-selling books, "The Chávez
Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela" (2006 Olive
Branch Press) and "Bush vs. Chávez: Washington's War
on Venezuela" (2007, Monthly Review Press). Since 2003,
Eva, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and CUNY Law School
in New York, has been investigating, analyzing and writing about
US intervention in Venezuela using the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) to obtain information about the US Government's efforts
to destabilize progressive movements in Latin America.
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