Will The U.S. Annex Latin America?
By Timothy V. Gatto
27 July, 2010
Countercurrents.org
The United States seems to be rushing into potential confrontations all over the globe. When the voters rejected the policies of George W. Bush by voting for Barack Obama, many people thought that this country would find a way to communicate with the rest of the World instead of deploying soldiers and weapons of war. Clearly this has not been the case. The United States of America has turned this planet into a playground for the Pentagon and we have seen an influx of soldiers and materials for waging war filling the airfields of Columbia, Costa Rica, Afghanistan, Poland and scores of other nations that have allowed their nations to be forward operating areas for this American Empire.
The military build-up in the America’s is being touted as a way for the U.S. to carry out “drug-interdiction”. This description of the U.S. militarization of the America’s seems almost plausible until you consider the fact that most of the drugs entering the United States come from U.S “client states” such as Columbia, Panama and Afghanistan. The U.S. has yet to stem the drug trade in countries such as Columbia even though we have opened seven land and sea bases in that country. Reports of CIA-leased aircraft laden with cocaine are regularly reported on.
It seems odd that with all of the U.S. aid in the fight against narco-trafficking that we give to Columbia, that we could at least make a dent in the cocaine that enters the U.S. from that country. From the CIA’s own website , Columbia is the World’s leading exporter of cocaine. Colombia ranks as the third-largest recipient of U.S. aid, which is directed towards counter-narcotics programs exclusively. Yet Columbia remains the largest exporter of cocaine, how does this happen?
Now Costa Rica is jumping in on the U.S. Money train. Costa Rica's Nacion newspaper reported last week that the new agreement will see 7,000 US Marines, supported by 200 helicopters and 46 warships "enter and leave the country at will." The paper also cited a June 2 letter from Costa Rica to the US declaring that US troops will have "the right to carry out the activities it deems necessary in carrying out its mission." This seems like a lot of troops, ships and helicopters for drug interdiction. It is no wonder that Hugo Chavez has cancelled his trip to Cuba.
With Panama ceding four military bases in that country to Washington, Lain America seems to be on the road to becoming another stop in the U.S. Global Empire. Excuse me for being a bit skeptical, but we have, time and time again, seen increases in the drug trade every time that we declare a “war on drugs” in any given area. It seems that wherever the U.S. military enters an area, the drug trade prospers.
We all know what this “War on Drugs” in Latin America really is. It is a way for America to achieve full-spectrum dominance in an area that has seen nations like Venezuela and Bolivia and the other nations of ALBA trying to escape domination by the United States and its corporate rulers. If we can’t win in an area by economic warfare, the military option is never far behind.
Still the citizens’s of the United States say and do nothing while we plunge headlong into possible military confrontation with China, Venezuela, Iran and other nations that resent the willingness of America to use force to get it wishes turned into reality. It won’t be long until we see Latin America forced into accepting a NATO-like arrangement to protect Latin America’s “sovereignty”. Soon it will be hard to find any nation that doesn’t have some kind of “defense pact” with the United States. Maybe the best way to stay out of a shooting war with America is to join the empire. It sure looks like that is what’s happening.
[email protected] Read Tim's book "Complicity to Contempt" and his novel, "Kimchee Days or Stone Cold Warriors" from Oliver Arts and Open Press.
