En relación a [L-I] Fw: (ftaa-l) Plan Colombia, FTAA and Black ,
el 15 Jan 01, a las 22:36, Macdonald Stainsby dijo:
> Part of this mail contains something I've been meaning to pose as a question to
> our comrades, such as Nestor or Anthony, as to why Panamas return to Colombia
> has never been a demand of the left? It seems to be (if stated properly) part of
> the Bolivarian equation...
Just a couple of paragraphs, scribbled down in haste. But maybe they can be of
help.
Why, the basic answer (and quite schematic as it is) should be "because the
Latin American National Liberation and Unification Movement is still to appear,
lacking as it lacks a Socialist direction".
One of the dramas in Latin America is that, save for some exceptional moments
(with the APRA during its best times, which were quite short), national
bourgeois or petty bourgeois movements have accepted the frontiers we have been
imposed on as a datum, a given. Probably -and with the exception of Brazil- the
age of the "Argentinisms, Bolivianisms, Chilenisms, Peruvianisms, and so on" is
over (the heyday took place by the precise years when Panama was snatched off
Colombia by the French-American gang of speculators who built the Canal, that
is during the 1900s-1920s).
But history is still there. We have been living separate lives for almost a
century and a half, and although there is no serious ground to defend the
independent existence of any Latin American "nation", there are other reasons,
which stem from that history, which make it impossible for a Colombian to call
for the unification with Panama. It would most probably be resented by
Panamanians as an expression of "Colombian imperialism" much in the sense
Serbia is blamed for "imperialism" by such countries as Germany, the USA or
France!
Not the same for a Panamanian. The logics of the situation would imply that the
"smaller" countries should claim for reunification with larger ones, and that
the latter be careful not to use this reunification for their exclusive
benefit. Say, a strong unifying party in Uruguay looking to Argentina, or a
strong unifying party in Panama looking to Colombia (or rather, given the
geographical constraints, to Central America as a whole; but you see, while
Panamanian culture is basically Colombian, on Central America up to Costa Rica
the influence is basically Mexican, something that can be easily understood if
one considers the political and cultural history of the Spanish era in Central
America).
The case of Panama is still more complex, since ownership of the Canal might
make the country much thriftier than neighboring and tortured Colombia.
>
> Macdonald
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: el desaparecido <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>
> Plan Colombia, FTAA and Black Communities in the process of global
> struggle.
>
> The US Congress has allocated $1.3 billion to the government of Colombia
> for a military intervention which was denominated Plan Colombia. The
> official purpose of this 'Plan' is to put an end to the illegal growing of coca
> by destroying illicit crops, to put an end to the guerilla and to stabilise
> Latin Americas 'oldest democracy'. 84 % of the money will flow straight back
> into US economy as it is destined for military aid, primarily Huey and Black
> Hawk helicopters.
>
> Anyone digging up just a bit more information about the situation in
> Colombia will immediately see that the drug war is nothing but a pretext
> and that the real motivation is to secure access to natural resources
> (especially oil) and to gain control over a geopolitical strategic region
> in order to continue the implementation of a neoliberal development model
> in the whole region and especially the planned FTAA (Free Trade Agreement
> of the Amerias) to be discussed in Quebec / Canada in April this year.
>
> A closer look to the region shows us that Colombia is like a natural trade
> platform, having access to both the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean and being
> the natural connection between North and South America. The strategic role of
> this area was already recognised centuries ago by Spanish conquistadores who
> considered connecting both oceans through a canal. In order to secure the
> control over this area, the US orchestrated the separation of Panama from
> Colombia in 1903. The Panama canal is becoming too small to deal with the
> increasing flow of goods in times of economic globalisation between South East
> Asia , USA and Europe, especially considering China as an upcoming market. The
> infrastructure of the Canal is old and slow, so new interoceanic connections
> are being planned. But Colombia is not only attractive in terms of trade routes
> crossroad, it is also intended to become a major production place full of sweat
> shops. Several megaprojects like road infrastructure, dams, oil pipelines,
> monocultures and harbours in order to efficiently sap the resources are on
> their way.
>
> On top of that, the oil resources in Colombia are enormous and they are
> even bigger in Venezuela: BP, Exxon, Shell (via Oxy Petroleum a sister
> TNC) have been granted generous concessions for oil drilling. In order to
> implement this neoliberal vision of development, Colombia has not only
> started reforming its constitution in order to make its laws FTAA
> compatible, but here we are assisting to an organised mass displacement
> and killing of the population, in particular the black communities, in
> order to go ahead with these megaprojects. Colombia has seen 3.000
> murdered people in the last year and nearly 2 mio people displaced by now. This
> is a social genocide and one of the cruellest forms of expression of
> capitalism.
>
> Another important factor are the social movements of Colombia, Ecuador,
> Bolivia, Brazil and Panama which are an obstacle for these neoliberal
> plans. Bolivia and Ecuador have seen huge indigenous uprisings. Peru's
> government is collapsing and especially Venezuela's external policy (role
> in OPEC making oil prices raise; contacts to Cuba and Iraq; and the
> building up of economic relations to other Latin American countries) is
> causing serious concern in the industrialised countries who'd like to see
> cheap oil prices, in particular the USA that has a highly energy
> inefficient economy. The 4 big oil multinationals also see their hegemony
> disturbed by Venezuela's attitude. US Senator Coverdell said in an article in
> the Washington Post on April 10th 2000, that protecting the oil interests in
> Venezuela justified the US intervention in Colombia.
>
> It isn't wrong to state that Plan Colombia is like a remake of the Vietnam war
> and a kind of neocolonialism to get the region under control in order to
> implement the vision of the FTAA.
>
> About 25-30 % of the Colombian population is black. Most live in cities
> but many communities are spread around the Pacific and Caribbean coast.
> The black communities perceive themselves as the outcome of centuries of
> struggle for freedom. Struggles against slavery, against colonialism and
> now economic globalisation. They have developed forms of living which
> have little or nothing to do with capitalism and that are in harmony with
> their environment, one of the places on Earth with the highest
> biodiversity. They struggle to defend their right to live, their
> constitutional right to autonomy, identity and space to live. Today they
> are approaching European and North American grassroots groups that have
> massively articulated around the anti- capitalist protests against the
> WTO, IMF, WB and that would like to join their struggle and continue the
> process of global convergence. Since the protests in Prague against the
> IMF/WB summit, the contact between PCN (Black Communities Process) and
> European grassroots groups has been developing rapidly. The first
> exchanges have resulted in: 1) a call by PCN for support in building
> communication structures and skill capacity to improve communication
> within the communities and internationally 2) a proposal to consider the
> planning of a large international presence in 'security zones' in the
> black communities, which are precisely in the way of the planned
> megaprojects. 3) a call to European and North American grassroots
> realities to build up autonomous collective alternatives as a response to
> the economical, political and cultural power of capitalism. Alternatives
> which articulate along horizontal and participatory forms, which
> practically implement the right to be different, support selfmanagement
> capacity and develop structures independently from State structures.
>
> The co-operation with the movements from this region that are directly
> approaching us, represent a chance for a new qualitative development in
> the global articulation of resistance, and a step to move from resistance
> towards an offensive in the arena of dreams, creation and conquer of the
> future.
>
> More information about Colombia, PCN and Tours in Europe and North
> America is available at:
> http://pages.hotbot.com/edu/stop.wto/Plan_Colombia.html
> You will also find instructions about how to subscribe to different email
> lists. Other sites: colombia.indymedia.org www3.gratisweb.com/ciclocrisis
> (analyses by H. Mondragon)
> www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia
> www.ecopetrol.com.co (official site to oil exploitation in Colombia)
> to contact PCN directly: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [in Spanish]
>
>
>
> ---------------------------- ftaa-l -----------------------------
> resisting the FTAA and capitalist globalization
> mobilizing for Quebec City, April 2001
> creating alternatives
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