Although it has been barely reported in the British media, Bush’s first 100 days have seen a massive increase in the USA’s war drive into Latin America. Bush has wrapped Plan Colombia in a new flag, the Andean Regional Initiative.
The main elements are:
- $400 million more military aid to Colombia
- $300 million more military aid to neigbouring Andean countries
- greater emphasis on waging the propaganda war as well as the actual
- fighting.
These latest measures bring total US spending on the plan to $2.3 billion over two years. The international banks and other donor countries have agreed funds to the Colombian government totalling a further $1.7 billion dollars.
Stopping drugs is the pretext for Plan Colombia, not its root cause. Just like Bush’s refusal to endorse the Kyoto agreement to cut fossil fuels, US military intervention in Colombia follows the dictates of Big Oil. Bush’s solution to the US energy crisis is not to cut demand, but to control all potential supplies. Meanwhile Esso, Shell and BP have all declared record profits.
The Colombian people are to be sacrificed on the altar of oil imperialism.
