Puppet Uribe gives Colombia to the US plus total immunity for troops.

[Magda Hassan]

All the better to manage their cocaine distribution and squash outbreaks of democracy and independence on the South American continent.
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By email:

In July, Colombia's defense, interior and foreign relations ministers gave a press conference confirming that the United States was negotiating an agreement to establish U.S. military presence at seven military bases in Colombia. Immediately following the announcement, backlash erupted throughout the region and South American leaders voiced their concern to both the Uribe Administration in Colombia and the Obama Administration in the United States. In response to much of the criticism and concern, Colombian President Uribe said he would make the final text of the agreement public as soon as it was available.
After the agreement was signed last Friday, the Colombian State Council "found that the agreement gives the US the power to decide what operations will occur, gives immunity to US troops, allows access to bases beyond the 7 bases named in the agreement, and defers the most important questions about military operations to future 'operational agreements.'"
Yesterday, the Uribe government finally published the full text of the agreement. Below are excerpts from the text covering many of the Colombian State Council's concerns. The entire agreement can be read in English here and in Spanish here (PDF).

Article III: Goal of Cooperation and Technical Assistance in Defense and Security
1. ... the Parties agree to deepen their cooperation in areas such as interoperability, joint procedures, logistics and equipment, training and instruction, intelligence exchanges, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, combined exercises, and other mutually agreed activities, in order to address common threats to peace, stability, freedom, and democracy.
....
Article IV: Access, Use, and Ownership of Agreed Facilities and Locations
1. The Government of Colombia, consistent with its domestic law, shall cooperate with the United States to carry out mutually agreed activities within the framework of this Agreement by continuing to allow access to and use of its facilities at: ... (lists 7 bases); and by allowing access to and use of other facilities and locations as may be agreed by the Parties or their Executive Agents. To that end, the Executive Agents shall establish a coordinating mechanism that authorizes the number and category of the persons (United States personnel, United States contractors, United States contractor employees, and aircraft riders), and the type and quantity of equipment, so as not to exceed the capacity of the agreed facilities and locations.
2. The authorities of Colombia shall, without rental or similar costs to the United States, allow access to and use of the agreed facilities and locations, and easements and rights of way, owned by Colombia that are necessary to support activities carried out within the framework of this Agreement, including agreed construction. The United States shall cover all necessary operations and maintenance expenses associated with its use of agreed facilities and locations.
....
Article VII: Respect for Domestic Law
United States personnel and their dependents shall respect Colombian laws and shall abstain from any activity incompatible with such laws and this Agreement....
Article VIII: Status of Personnel
1. ... Colombia shall grant United States personnel and their dependents the privileges, exemptions, and immunities accorded to the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission under the Vienna Convention.
2. With regard to Colombian military personnel present in the United States to carry out activities related to bilateral cooperation within the framework of this Agreement ... The United States shall extend to the aforementioned Colombian military personnel courtesies ordinarily available to United States military personnel of similar rank, to the maximum extent permitted by United States law.
...
5. The appropriate authorities of the United States shall give sympathetic consideration to a request for a waiver of immunity in cases that the authorities of Colombia consider to be of particular importance.

The description of the activities allowed within the terms of the agreement is broad - covering just about any threat or mission necessary during the ten-year span of the agreement. However, a Pentagon document released by the Colombian news magazine Semana gives more details on the motives behind the United States' desire to have a forward operating location at the Palanquero air base in Colombia, one of the seven bases included in the Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Below are some excerpts from the document, which is the budget justification for the Fiscal Year 2010 Military Construction Program submitted to Congress by the U.S. Air Force in May 2009. The entire document can be found here.

Mission of Major Functions: This Cooperative Security Location (CSL) enhances the U.S. Global Defense Posture (GDP) Strategy which directs development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and basing strategy aligned with the principles of developing nations....
...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....
Current Situation: Access to Columbia 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. Palanquero is unquestionably the best site for investing in infrastructure development within Columbia. its central location is within reach of Andean Ridge counter narco-terrorist operations areas; the superb runway and existing airfield facilities will reduce construction costs; its isolation maximizes Operational Security (OPSEC) and Force Protection and minimizes the U.S. military profile. The intent to leverage existing infrastructure to the maximum extent possible, improve the U.S. ability to respond rapidly to crisis and assure regional access and presence at a minimum cost....
Impact if not provided: ...Not funding this project will limit USSOUTHCOM to four other CSLs which are restricted to supporting aerial counter narcotics missions only and two other locations that, while not mission restricted, are too distant to accommodate mission requirements in the AOR.
...A 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.

[David Guyatt]

Article VIII: Status of Personnel
1. ... Colombia shall grant United States personnel and their dependents the privileges, exemptions, and immunities accorded to the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission under the Vienna Convention.

That's a first (or is it?). Gun toting soldiers are treated as diplomats and accorded the full protections of the Vienna Convention.

In other words, they can randomly shoot someone - anyone - burglarize or engage in any activities whatsoever and the worst that will happen is that they can be made persona non grate and must leave the country.

[Magda Hassan]

Article VIII: Status of Personnel
1. ... Colombia shall grant United States personnel and their dependents the privileges, exemptions, and immunities accorded to the administrative and technical staff of a diplomatic mission under the Vienna Convention.

That's a first (or is it?). Gun toting soldiers are treated as diplomats and accorded the full protections of the Vienna Convention.

In other words, they can randomly shoot someone - anyone - burglarize or engage in any activities whatsoever and the worst that will happen is that they can be made persona non grate and must leave the country.

I think the US (and possibly other) military in Iraq had some sort of immunity. But not the private contractors.

I think the whole 'agreement' is shocking. Amongst other things the US is not paying a cent for any of this, no rent at all (though I am certain there has been plenty changing hands). There are no inspections of any facility or craft permitted. They not only get all their bases but have unlimited access to anywhere they want in the whole of Colombia for any reason. Civilian or military installations the US can use it as they see fit. They can have as many troops in Colombia as they want. And this is for the next 10 years. Needless to say the neighbours are not at all impressed. Nor are the opposition parties in Colombia who see it as a US invasion and a total abrogation of Colombian sovereignty which it is.

[David Guyatt]

There are no inspections of any facility or craft permitted.

Oh dear. Does this imply a new Operation Watchtower where the US military run drugs via military facilities and craft directly into the US?

[Jan Klimkowski]

There are no inspections of any facility or craft permitted.

Oh dear. Does this imply a new Operation Watchtower where the US military run drugs via military facilities and craft directly into the US?

Yes.

But this time it's legal, with complete and eternal immunity from prosecution.

Unless you're a whistleblower, in which case They can gangrape you, lock you up in a crate, and inform you that you've waived your rights to anything other than a Company tribunal.

Any idle surfers who think I'm overstating the case should read the thread here:

http://www.deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/...php?t=2386

[Magda Hassan]

BREAKING NEWS: Official US Air Force Document Reveals the True Intentions Behind the US-Colombia Military Agreement *

By Eva Golinger


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 insurgencies…and 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 of…operations areas…its 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 nations…A 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.

Original document in English: http://www.centrodealerta.org/documentos...ir_for.pdf

Traducción no oficial al español: http://www.centrodealerta.org/documentos_desclasificados/traduccion_del_documento_de
http://www.chavezcode.com/2009/11/breaki...force.html

[Jan Klimkowski]

I suppose Venezuelan oil is a bit nearer the USofA than middle eastern oil...

[David Guyatt]

Beat me to the punch! That was my immediate thought when reading this document.

[Magda Hassan]

This is what they get to do with immunity:

At least 54 Colombian girls sexually abused by immune US military: Report

Mar 23, 2015 posted by Adriaan Alsema





US soldiers and military contractors sexually abused more than 54 children in Colombia between 2003 and 2007, according to a recently released historic document on the country's conflict. The suspects have allegedly not been prosecuted due to immunity clauses in bilateral agreements.
The 800-page independent historic report was commissioned by the Colombian government and rebel group FARC to establish the causes and violence aggravators of the 50-year-long conflict they are negotiating to end.
The document is to help negotiators determine who is responsible for the 7 million victims or the armed conflict between leftist rebels and the state while they are negotiating peace.
[TABLE="class: alignright, width: 283"]
[TR]
[TD]"There exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials."

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Renan Vega Historic Commission for the Conflict and its victims
[/TD]
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[/TABLE]
One of the scholars that helped redact the historians' report, Renan Vega of the Pedagogic University in Bogota, focused part of this historic document on the American military that has actively supported the Colombian state in its fight against drug trafficking and leftist rebel groups like the FARC and ELN.
According to Vega, "there exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials."
In his report, the historian cited one 2004 case in the central Colombian town of Melgar where 53 underage girls were sexually abused by nearby stationed military contractors "who moreover filmed [the abuse] and sold the films as pornographic material."
According to Colombia's leading newspaper, El Tiempo, the victims of the sexual abuse practices were forced to flee the region after their families received death threats.
Other Americans stationed at the Tolemaida Air Base allegedly committed similar crimes, but possibly also never saw a day in court due to an immunity arrangement for American soldiers and military contractors agreed by Washington and Bogota.
[TABLE="class: alignright, width: 283"]
[TR]
[TD]"Yes, we took her and we raped her. So what?"

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Alleged words of US Sergeant Michael J. Coen to the mother of a 12-year-old rape victim.
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One case that has called most attention in Colombian media was that of a 12-year-old who in 2007 was raped by a US Army sergeant and a former US military officer who was working in Melgar as a military contractor.
Colombian prosecutors established that the girl had been drugged and subsequently raped inside the military base by US sergeant Michael J. Coen and defense contractor Cesar Ruiz.
However, prosecution officials were not allowed to arrest the suspected child rapists who were subsequently flown out of the country.
The case has caused major indignation among Colombians for years.
Nevertheless, the rape victim, her little sister and mother were forced to flee Melgar and eventually moved to the city of Medellin as forces loyal to the suspects were threatening the family, the mother told Colombian television.
In 2009, the US embassy in Bogota told Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald that the US government did not rule out the possibility to reopen the apparently closed case against Coen and Ruiz.

However, according to El Tiempo, no US court has since indicted both suspects for their alleged crime in the six years since.
According to left-leaning news website El Turbion, the case of the 12-year-old girl is not the only one.
"In 2006 there were 23 reported cases of sexual abuse committed by active American soldiers and another 14 in 2007," the website said. Colombia Reports was unable to confirm this claim with other online sources.
However, if this claim is confirmed, there would be more than 90 cases of sexual violence against women and children committed by American soldiers between 2004 and 2007 alone.
According to the governmental National Victims Unit, 7,234 Colombian women have been registered as victims of sex crimes within the context of the conflict in the decades that it has lasted.
While the FARC and the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos are negotiating who is responsible for the 7.2 million registered victims of the country's half-a-century armed conflict, US President Barack Obama sent Special Envoy Bernie Aronson to Colombia to assist in the process.
Aronson has so far met with Santos and, reportedly, with negotiation team members of the FARC and the government, and will be the intermediary between Bogota and Washington.
The special envoy will possibly have to deal with the role of the US military and its members in the alleged victimization of Colombians.
His most difficult task will be balancing the US government's duty of "protecting American interests" as he was reminded by Tea Party Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and trying to "stand by Colombians' side in this journey," as Aronson said himself.

Sources

• Contribucion al entendimiento del conflicto armado en Colombia (Historic Commission for the Conflict and its Victims)
  
• Entonces, quien responde? (Semana)
  
• Siete años de vergonzosa impunidad en caso de niña violada en Melgar (El Tiempo)
  
• Impunidad para soldados del Plan Colombia? (El Turbion)
  

[David Guyatt]

All I can do is shake my head. It's was a complete sell out by Uribe from the get go.