Race to expand U.S. military presence in Colombia draws yellow flag

Congressional letter to President Obama urges administration to “exercise caution”

The U.S. government’s effort to dig its heels in deeper in Colombia under the overt flag of enhancing its anti-narcotics efforts in the region is not only drawing heat from leaders in Latin America but also here at home, in Congress.

The deal now being considered by the Obama administration and the Colombia government calls for a 10-year lease providing U.S. personnel access to some seven Colombian military bases, according to press reports. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told the media that the effort to expand the base presence in Colombia should not be read as a sign that the Obama administration will seek Congressional approval to expand the number of permanent U.S. personnel now stationed in Colombia — supposedly limited to 800 military and some 600 civilian contractors.

But a letter penned by 16 members of Congress — including one Senator — and delivered to President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates cautions that the administration may already be moving too fast on the Colombian front.

In particular, the letter, dated Sept. 15, points out that despite its $6 billion-plus price tag, the anti-narcotics effort dubbed Plan Colombia “has not succeeded.”

In addition, the letter raises serious concerns about the human rights record of Colombia’s military.

From the letter:

Human rights organizations have documented Colombia's military involvement with illegal paramilitary groups that on many occasions carried out extra judicial murders, disappearances, and displacement of Colombian peasants, Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples.

Given these realities, and the history of mistrust that has been bred by past U.S. gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, the signers of the letter urge the President to exercise caution in “negotiating any increase in U.S. military aid to and presence in Colombia.”

More from the letter:

… In the recent summit of the Union of South American Nations, called expressly to address Colombia's military agreement with the United States, every other nation in the region except for Peru expressed serious concern about the terms of the agreement and the manner in which it was negotiated. This pact threatens to make your efforts to re-engage with our neighbors in the hemisphere on terms of mutual respect much more difficult.

The full text of the letter, provided to Narco News by a Congressional staffer, follows — and also can be found at this link.

Congress of the United States

Washington, DC 20515

September 15,2009

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

It is our understanding that the U.S. and Colombia are in negotiations to increase U.S. access to an expanded network of Colombian military bases to support counter-narcotics efforts. We write to urge caution regarding any increase in U.S. military aid to and presence in Colombia due to concerns that increased U.S. military involvement will exacerbate the failures of Plan Colombia.

Between fiscal years 2000 and 2008, the United States provided over $6 billion in military and nonmilitary assistance to Colombia as part of Plan Colombia. This funding supported the eradication of coca and opium poppy crops, the interdiction of narcotics shipments, and the training and material support for Colombia's security forces. U.S. assistance also supported alternative crop development to give coca and opium poppy farmers alternative sources of income.

Despite the billions of dollars spent by the U.S., Plan Colombia has not succeeded. According to a GAO report released in October 2008 (GAO-09-71), "Plan Colombia's goal of reducing the cultivation, processing, and distribution of illegal narcotics by targeting coca cultivation has not been achieved." In fact, according to the report, coca cultivation and cocaine production have increased in Colombia.

In addition to serious questions about the value of eradication efforts, we have strong concerns about human rights violations perpetrated by the Colombian military. Human rights organizations have documented Colombia's military involvement with illegal paramilitary groups that on many occasions carried out extra judicial murders, disappearances, and displacement of Colombian peasants, Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples. For example, Amnesty International found that, between June 2006 and June 2007, at least 280 civilians were extra-judicially killed by Colombian security forces and that many of them were subsequently presented by those forces as guerrillas killed in conflict.' The Colombia Support Network has documented literally hundreds of incidents of abuse by the Colombian Army over the past three years', and according to Human Rights Watch, the Colombian Armed Forces engaged in "'systematic' killings of civilians" and the Colombian Attorney General's Office (La Fiscalia) is investigating cases involving more than 1,700 alleged victims.'

In the recent summit of the Union of South American Nations, called expressly to address Colombia's military agreement with the United States, every other nation in the region except for Peru expressed serious concern about the terms of the agreement and the manner in which it was negotiated. This pact threatens to make your efforts to re-engage with our neighbors in the hemisphere on terms of mutual respect much more difficult.

These failures of Plan Colombia underscore our concern that increased U.S. military presence in Colombia will continue to overemphasize funding to Colombia's armed forces rather than needed development and rule of law efforts. We hope you will exercise caution in negotiating any increase in U.S. military aid to and presence in Colombia.

Sincerely,

[Signed by the following U.S. Representatives]

Tammy Baldwin

James P. McGovern

Jan Schakowsky

Raul Grijalva

Barbara Lee

George Miller

Jose E. Sorrano

Lynn Woolsey

Rush Holt

Chaka Fattah

Pete Stark

James L. Oberstar

Keith Ellison

Bob Filner

Dennis Kucinich

— And U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold