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Canada Backs Colombia's Growing Embrace of US Military

Peasants sent packing to pave way for oil, gas and mining investments.

By Arno Kopecky, 6 Aug 2010, TheTyee.ca

Colombian soldiers

Colombian soldiers, part of the Plan. Photo by Michael von Bergen.

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The mayor of Puerto Salgar, a town of 16,000 people wrapped around Colombia's Palenquero Air Force Base, has high blood pressure; he postponed our 8:00AM meeting so he could see his doctor for a shot. The sun had climbed painfully high above the Magdalena river valley by the time Antonio Moreno Veran came stumping up to city hall, shirt buttoned halfway down his chest and droplets of sweat beading under his baseball cap.

"We're not a country that picks fights with our neighbours,” Veran said over the occasional roar of fighter jets taking off three blocks away. He was referring to the latest round of war drumming between Venezuela and Colombia, stirred up by the accusation that Hugo Chavez is hosting FARC rebels across the border. But I was more interested in the Defense Cooperation Agreement that Colombia signed with the U.S. last October. The DCA will see American troops take up permanent residence at seven bases around Colombia, and Palenquero -- already the largest air base in Colombia -- is its centrefold; once the $46 million expansion of the base is complete, American planes will be in striking range of all South America except southernmost Tierra del Fuego.

Having passed without congressional debate in either country, the agreement consolidates the informal liberties U.S. troops have enjoyed here ever since Plan Colombia began in 1999. That plan's unpopularity was compounded several times over by the DCA, which provoked the condemnation of every government on the continent before it had even been announced.

But many Colombians, maybe even most, support the agreement. The threat of a Venezuelan invasion or a FARC kidnapping looms larger in the popular imagination here than the guns of Washington or Chiquita Banana. For his part, Mayor Veran brushed off the suggestion that the July 20 celebrations marking Colombia's 200th year of independence were a little premature. "The Americans will only be here as long as it takes to solve our narcoterrist problem," he said. "In the meantime the president has assured us there will be no threat to our national sovereignty. We retain absolute control over our bases regardless of who we invite inside them."

The reason I was speaking to Veran, however, instead of the Colombian general in charge of the base, was that said general had insisted on first running the visit by the American embassy in Bogota. By the time I arrived at Palenquero, weeks after placing the request, permission had yet to be granted. So I wound up listening to a staunch defense of Palenquero from the man who ran the town outside the gates.

Veran spoke highly of the Defense Cooperation Agreement without really knowing anything about it -- he didn't know, for instance, when American troops would arrive, or how many would be stationed here, or whether the expansion plan included an environmental impact assessment, or what measures his office would take to deal with the corresponding rise in crime and prostitution that accompanies military bases the world over (Women Against War, a Colombian NGO, has documented 800 cases of rape around the country's bases in the past five years, including 12 involving American troops. Fortunately for them, American soldiers and contractors are granted immunity under the DCA).

Despite this, Veran was confident that "when the Americans do come, the impact on Puerto Salgar will be positive; we've been promised a new hospital, and with 20 per cent unemployment they'll bring some much-needed business."

Canada's big resource investment in Colombia

Veran's statements echoed those of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, the man who invented the term "narcoterrorist," as well as the man taking Uribe's place on Saturday, former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos. Both men have stressed that the agreement's wording restricts American military excursions outside Colombia to humanitarian missions like the post-earthquake Hatian relief mission launched from Palenquero in January. Besides, no more than 800 American troops will be allowed on the bases -- never mind the clause allowing American troop levels to be increased in case of emergency.

And Canada? Our government supported the agreement too. Canadian mining, oil and gas companies are Colombia's third biggest source of foreign investment, operating almost exclusively in remote zones of the country where armed protection is a precondition to profit. The question is, protection from whom? Both Plan Colombia and the new Defense Cooperation Agreement identify FARC as the enemy, a view now echoed from Ottawa: speaking in favor of the Canada-Colombia free trade deal last fall, Liberal MP Scott Brison claimed that "Enbridge [a Canadian energy company] has been recognized for human rights training that it has provided to security personnel which are required to protect its investments and its workers against FARC."

Unfortunately, the facts don't support the assumptions. Over the course of Plan Colombia, more than 2.5 million rural Colombians have been displaced; their exodus overlaps neatly with a map of the country's oil and mineral resources. Yet according to the Colombian government's own statistics, compiled from testimonies of the displaced, it wasn't the FARC who kicked most of those campesinos out -- it was the paramilitary groups employed by Colombia's army to improve the country's investment climate, encouraged by $7 billion from Plan Colombia and counting.


'Armed actors live everywhere'

Around the corner from the mayor's office, a group of union leaders from the national oil union described life on the the other side of the coin.

"Because armed actors live everywhere amongst us, we aren't free to speak our minds unless international witnesses are present," one intensely focused young man told me. It wasn't long ago that local paramilitaries kept an office across the street from Palenquero's front entrance, he said; threats and assassinations emanating from that office reduced the oil unions' membership from 25,000 to 2,800 over the past 10 years.

Yet his opposition to the Defense Cooperation Agreement was based on more than personal fear. "It's an absolute violation of Colombia's sovereignty," he bristled. "Americans are here to gain access to Colombia's resources, not to help our country develop; they're after strategic control of the region, and all they'll leave behind is war, conflict and poverty."

Many would dismiss these as the complaints of a radical minority, which, after the Colombian government's systematic dismantling of the left, is an accurate description. Ten years ago, when paramilitary activities were at their peak and Plan Colombia went into effect, the plan explicitly demanded that Colombia embrace free trade, foreign investment, and the import of American agricultural products in exchange for military aid. The union leaders and human rights groups who represented the most vocal opposition to Colombia's economic overhaul were subsequently decimated along with the FARC.

One third of Colombia's senators and congressmen have either been indicted or are under investigation for ties to the paramilitary groups that carried out this dirty work. That relationship is the open secret behind Uribe's "Democratic Security," an Orwellian policy that Santos has promised to maintain. Democratic Security, after all, has boosted foreign investment and tourism in the country; the downtown cores of Colombia's major cities are safer than ever, even if the slums to which hundreds of thousands of displaced farmers move each year are getting worse. These days, you can drive from Bogota to Cartagena without fear of a FARC attack, or buy an oil field without fear of a workers' strike.

The new neighbours: Navy and Air Force

Or you can take a boat from the coast of Buenaventura, halfway down Colombia's Pacific coast, deep into Bahia Malaga where humpback whales gather each September to calve. This is where a good portion of the country's slave population settled following independence in 1810, taking up new lives as free fishermen, hunters and farmers.

Then in 1986, a pair of naval and air bases were installed; aside from increasing the humpback's mortality rate, the Navy closed off substantial portions of the bay to the fishermen who have relied on them for over a century. The Air Force, in turn, prohibited hunters from entering large tracts of the surrounding jungle, on the grounds that anyone with a rifle would be treated as a terrorist.

"We are campesinos," a fierce woman told me at one community meeting, "and all we want is to stay in the countryside. We don't want to move to the city, because we don't know how to live there. But the bases are slowly pushing us off the land and the ocean." She was well aware that both bases would soon house American troops, as part of the Defense Cooperation Agreement. "If they have been doing this on their own for years, what should we expect once the Americans arrive?"

"It's no secret that to denounce the government around here is to hang a tombstone around your neck," said another man. Inexplicably, he continued. "Every time I go out to hunt, I risk running into a soldier who will shoot me for carrying a gun." He'd barely survived a recent encounter that ended up with soldiers confiscating his weapon, he added; he hadn't set foot in the jungle since.

The same day I was listening to these and a dozen similar stories in Bahia Malaga, a pair of teenage brothers went hunting on the other side of the country. The fact that they didn't know they were trespassing on military property didn't prevent soldiers from opening fire, putting one boy in critical condition while his younger brother died on the spot.

Links made explicit

If there were any lingering doubts over the link between military and economic strategy in Colombia, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates' visit to Colombia in April cleared the air. Speaking well outside his jurisdiction, Gates promised Uribe that he would push "to get ratification of the free trade agreement. It's a good deal for Colombia. It's also a very good deal for the United States."

One can only imagine his consternation when, two months later, Canada beat America to the finish line and became the first Western nation to conclude a free trade agreement with Colombia.

Despite the glaring discrepancies in agricultural subsidies, or the toothlessness of the labor and environmental clauses, or the secrecy under which they were negotiated, rational arguments can be made for free trade and military collaboration with Colombia. But a report published last week by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an American NGO, reveals a far less defensible connection between Plan Colombia and the extrajudicial killings that have proliferated in the country over the past 10 years.

The report focuses on the "false positives" scandal that broke in late 2008, when it came out that Colombian soldiers had murdered over 2,000 civilians and dressed their cadavers up as guerrillas in order to boost results in the war on drugs and terror. The report, which draws on statistics provided by the State Department and the Colombian military, shows that the Colombian army units which received the most American funding committed the most atrocities. The reverse held true as well, with the number of false positives dropping as funding was revoked. To be precise, the 16 largest single-year increases of aid to army units led to a 56 per cent increase in executions in their jurisidictions, while precisely the same reduction in killings was reported from those jurisdictions where Plan Colombia's aid was most sharply reduced.

Correlation doesn't equal causation, but one can see why certain segments of society might be less than thrilled about the prospect of more soldiers showing up. As Colombia's investment climate improves, reports of extrajudicial killings and disappearances continue to accrue throughout the country. Meanwhile, less than two per cent of the false positive murders have led to charges, and the one person who might have been expected to resign over the scandal -- Colombia's defense minister at the time, Juan Manuel Santos -- has instead become president. [Tyee]

Freelance journalist Arno Kopecky has a Global Fellowship with the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation to investigate Canadian ties with Latin America.

35 Comments:

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  • samuidave (not verified)

    1 year ago

    Being militarily in bed with the Americans ...

    ... simply means further exploitation of your resources, operating a 'stable' government which complies with US orders and economic objectives, a nation that allows US military outposts in situ to monitor other nearby nations, and an agreement to not turn 'socialist' and attempt to help your citizens at even the smallest expense to the American population.

    Hugo Chavez has been sounding the bells of American interference via Columbia for some time now. Not too surprisingly, the west ignores his claims and even tangible, admitted proof will not suffice a change of mind.

  • Van Isle

    1 year ago

    Sadly, this is just a

    Sadly, this is just a continuation of the history of Latin America. When there are governments who allow foreign influence/denominance of their countries autonomy then expect anger from the locals. What Canada is doing is no different than what the Americans, or Chinese for that matter, are doing; getting at raw resourses. But how Canada is doing it is disturbing; can't get your way, become a bully. The Americans are also worried about the Chinese presents in resourse rich 3rd world countries. The Chinese took over an airbase in Ecuador which was formally occuppied by the Americans before they were kicked out.

  • Greg in Calgary

    1 year ago

    What's Canada actually doing there though?

    Thanks for an interesting article. But I don't see any mention of Canada's "backing of Columbia's growing embrace of US military" though. The article only mentions Canada's support of it's own free trade agreement with Columbia. I know we have controversial mining operations and companies that are more than happy to look the other way as the military makes the place safe for capitalism, but I don't see any mention of direct support by the Harper government. I was hoping for more specifics...

  • dave49

    1 year ago

    Reading Jeremy Skahill's Blackwater

    While staying in a Gulf Islands cabin, one of the 'cottage books' was a copy of the 2008 edition on Jeremy Skahill's Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Fascinating chapter on how the Americans built a pipeline to ship oil from Kyrgyzstan by a route that avoided Russian soil. It would be easy to say it was the influence of the GW Bush presidency, but the US government has historically worked with big oil to secure and exploit oil resources for the benefit of the USA. THIS WILL NOT CHANGE!

    Columbia is just the next cluster of oil wells that will be exploited to maintain the American style of life.

  • cboo44

    1 year ago

    HUH??

    Canadian resource companies have investments and operations ALL OVER S. America, as well as many other countries in the world. We are a nation of mining expertise. Stop with the generalized guilt by assumed association.
    And since when did Hugo Chavez become a saint? He is just another oil-rich dictator.

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    What!!!! No Way!!!

    Huh! I never woulda thought it. Canada supporting the US military and other interventions in Columbia?

    You'd think with the long history of Canadian political and economic independence, military non-alignement and refusal to get into bed with the Amerikans diplomatically, or give them control of our resources, that we would be urging the same on these poor hapless Columbians.

    You think you know your own country. :-D roflmao

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    cboo44

    http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/1632

    Quote:
    It is an open secret that throughout the Americas and the world, people are struggling against the intrusion of Canadian mining companies and their short term "get the gold and get out" strategies. The backlash against Canadian mining companies has, in some cases (particularly in Guatemala and Peru), strengthened broader social and political movements re-vindicating local control over land

    Ah yes, the "good" that Canadian mining companies do..........

  • dorothy

    1 year ago

    Food for thought?

    "Being militarily in bed with the Americans ...
    ... simply means further exploitation of your resources, operating a 'stable' government which complies with US orders and economic objectives.."

    Perhaps this should form an impetus for Canadians to run to the polls next time an election is called? One thing is a dysfunctional state due to 'forces' the government cannot handle, but how unsupported does a sham democracy have to be, before enterprising people like those South of the border might think they see a possible threat of instability, maybe a pretext for intervention? Perhaps we should try harder to keep the s%*t together?

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    cboo44 EDITED FOR PERSONAL INSULTS

    "And since when did Hugo Chavez become a saint? He is just another oil-rich dictator."

    Actually, he has been "democratically" elected predident of Venezuala three times, in internationally recognized and overseen elections. (Check out former US president Jimmy Carter, who was there, and approved the last election.) And this despite insurrectionary and coup attempts by US supported opposition elements, which still function openly there.

    Sorry, but you clearly don't know EDITED FOR PERSONAL INSULTS - MODERATOR

  • samuidave (not verified)

    1 year ago

    How does it go....

    Chavez nationalizes strategically important, successful businesses; Obama nationalizes failing company's losses.

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    It can end...

    But let's get to it.

    The real pathetic "US servile serving State" in this hemisphere is... you guessed it... Eh, and it passes the "formal" test for a "democracy"... Canada.

    What a pathetic US fauning and serving, bootlick excuse for a "country", heap of dung we are.

    And it need not be this way. It can end anytime we, as a people, make the decision to do so.

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    Had we...

    "Chavez nationalizes strategically important, successful businesses.." observe samuidave, correctly.

    Had we, as a people and a country, half the jam that he and his people have shown, in the face of The Empire.

  • samuidave (not verified)

    1 year ago

    An Irish film with a different perspective

    This independent film, The Revolution Will Not be Televised may give viewers a different take on Chavez, Venezuela and his 'narco-terrorist ties with Columbian cartels' as alleged by the Americans since 2001.

    Turn your ear to the typical buzz words like 'stable government', 'democracy' and 'terrorists' being trotted out on the public media channels to decide whether the US interventionist fix is in.

  • puppyg

    1 year ago

    Thar's gold in them there

    Thar's gold in them there hills, so Canada will be Colombia's good friend. Who needs enemies?

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    dorothy

    Quote:
    Perhaps this should form an impetus for Canadians to run to the polls next time an election is called? One thing is a dysfunctional state due to 'forces' the government cannot handle, but how unsupported does a sham democracy have to be, before enterprising people like those South of the border might think they see a possible threat of instability, maybe a pretext for intervention? Perhaps we should try harder to keep the s%*t together?

    In the movie "Three Days of The Condor"
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073802/quotes
    There is this interchange between two characters:
    Higgins: It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. Maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then?
    Joe Turner: Ask them?
    Higgins: Not now - then! Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!

    Unfortunately, I think it is appropo regarding the average citizen's reaction to that which is far, far, away.................

  • Alison Creekside

    1 year ago

    @ Greg in Calgary

    "I don't see any mention of Canada's "backing of Columbia's growing embrace of US military" though. ... I don't see any mention of direct support by the Harper government. I was hoping for more specifics..."

    Harper and George Bush somewhat puzzlingly concentrated almost exclusively on Colombia at the presser following their 2008 Summit. Bush pushed for further military intervention and Harper followed him up by saying :
    "If the United States and our allies turn their back on an important ally in this region, that will have long-term security consequences for all of our countries in North America."

    But you're right, it isn't just Harper.
    While the Canada-Colombia FTA was Harper's initiative, it was former Con now Lib Scott Brison who negotiated a figleaf ammendment with Uribe which allowed it to pass with Lib support. As Brison said in the House in Sept 2009:
    "If we isolate Colombia in the Andean region and leave Colombia exposed and vulnerable to the ideological attacks of Chavez's Venezuela, we will be allowing evil to flourish."

    Canada has been supplying Colombia with military helicopters via the US for at least a decade.
    http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/Briefings/brf013.html#CH-135%20helicopters%20and%20Plan%20Colombia

    For a short history of Canadian mining companies complicity with Colombian paramilitary groups :
    http://www.asadismi.ws/colombia.html

  • dorothy

    1 year ago

    RickW

    Oh, Yeah, you may be right. Which is why I am willing to be this insufferable broken record. Maybe just a LITTLE sooner than otherwise? I know, I know, Cato never got through the thick skulls of Romans, but it's just the way I'm made. I cannot bear for it to be because I didn't try!

  • max von smartt

    1 year ago

    eager beaver

    hey it aint pelts these days, it's gold n gaz n oil. and our kanadian politicians are joined at the loins with amerika, home of the brave, land of the free!!!

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    dorothy

    Quote:
    I cannot bear for it to be because I didn't try!

    "They" may offer you a sainthood for that! Just hope you didn't have to become a martyr first.........

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    Allison Creekside

    Scott Brison:

    Quote:
    "If we isolate Colombia in the Andean region and leave Colombia exposed and vulnerable to the ideological attacks of Chavez's Venezuela, we will be allowing evil to flourish."

    Loose translation:
    It may imperil the supply of cocaine?
    http://www.roadjunky.com/guide/830/world-cocaine-sources-colombia-peru-bolivia
    And/or is it the "tired old" natural resources gambit - Coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nickel, gold, silver, copper, platinum, emeralds?
    http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35754.htm

  • realisticman

    1 year ago

    The Latest from Bogota and Caracas

    Juan Manuel Santos Calderón became the current President of the Republic of Colombia as of August 7, 2010. He founded the Social National Unity Party.

    "The Social Party of National Unity supports the development of a welfare state and recognizes the family as base of society. It also recognizes and approves globalization, emphasizing education, science and technology as opportunities that can help Colombia succeed in a global market. The party supports decentralization and autonomy of regions. Currently, the Caribbean Region is the first to begin the process to obtain more autonomy.

    For "uribistas", security is the first duty of the State. Without security, social programs can't be successful in rural areas controlled by narcoterrorist groups. The concept of Democratic Security, the main axis of Uribe's government, consists of bringing security to different social sectors, including ethnic minorities, periodists, work unions and regional politicians.

    The concept of "Communitarian State" is another important ideological pillar for the party. It emphasizes the development of communities, in order to bring stability to the whole state. The state brings development to marginalized communities while private companies focus on the economy, providing additional products and services."

    On August 5, 2010 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government is ready to resume the diplomatic relations with Colombia.

    "I am prepared to turn the page completely and look to the future with hope," Chavez said in a speech carried live on TV.

  • CanadianLatitude

    1 year ago

    Unfortunately, the facts

    Unfortunately, the facts don't support the assumptions. Over the course of Plan Colombia, more than 2.5 million rural Colombians have been displaced; their exodus overlaps neatly with a map of the country's oil and mineral resources. Yet according to the Colombian government's own statistics, compiled from testimonies of the displaced, it wasn't the FARC who kicked most of those campesinos out -- it was the paramilitary groups employed by Colombia's army to improve the country's investment climate, encouraged by $7 billion from Plan Colombia and counting.


    =================
    This is why FARC will not be defeated. Acytually they will probably grow.

    Didn't the US/Canada remember history?

    I can not wait for Farc to win and bring freedom to the people.

    Do you ever wonder why people from many Latin American countries hate the USA and love guys like Fidel, Che, Eva Morales, Hugo Chavez etc etc ?? It is because they stand up to the country that has taken their freedom away (USA) and put in dictator thugs (I do not see how anyone can deny this) from Argentina to Guatemala and everywhere in-between in the name of Big oil, Big Fruit (United Fruit for example) etc

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    R/M old man....

    Sure sounds good! But, like C.N. says, the facts don't fit the fantasy.

  • dorothy

    1 year ago

    RickW

    Thank you for your kind words. I am not so important. And no one gets out of here alive.

    - may the force be with you.

  • realisticman

    1 year ago

    Chavez

    Chavez Urges Colombian Rebels to Release Hostages

    VOA News 08 August 2010

    "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is urging Colombia's rebels to release all their hostages as a way to start peace negotiations with the country's new president, Juan Manuel Santos.

    During his weekly radio and television address Sunday, Mr. Chavez said the Colombian guerrilla movement has no future through armed struggle. He urged the country's rebels to release the dozens of hostages held in camps deep within Colombia's jungles as an overture to Mr. Santos, who was sworn in on Saturday. ..."

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    Globalization and Globalization...

    "This independent film, The Revolution Will Not be Televised may give viewers a different take on Chavez, Venezuela and his 'narco-terrorist ties with Columbian cartels' as alleged by the Americans since 2001." writes samuidave.

    Thanks for this video link, samuidave.

    Canadian Latitude. You nail it right on as ever, bro.

    Outside of this corner of the northern part of the western hemisphere, where Canada remains bound hand and foot, economically, intellectually and culturally, as a kind of quasi, bootlicking colony of The Empire, with a servile political structure, a revolution has already been long underway. In the remaining parts of the hemisphere, it has been underway in the streets, the jungles and amongst the urban and rural working class and poor since Castro rolled into Havana. Even if the hold is sometimes tenuous.

    And it is a revolution to liberate the entire continent from the Wraith that is The Empire, feeding upon and sucking the life force out of all of us. As Chavez himself observes in one scene in this documentary, onboard the government jet, it is "another" kind of globalization to that of Neo_Liberalism , otherwise Neo-Conservatism or Neoconism that seeks to make global action its own kind of private preseve, as comes out of the Halls of Power in the US Empire.

    It is this School of Globalization, that of liberation, democracy, and respect for the sovereignty of all peoples, and non-interference in each others internal affairs (which is not necessarily sanction or approval even), that we, as a country under US Empire domination ourselves need to get onboard with.

    We need solidarity across the various strata lines of ordinary people within the country, to overcome and defeat the predations of a small ruling class gone mad, preying on us all to one degree or another. Similarly, we need to stand in solidarity with ordinary, working class, peasant and poor folks engaged in a similar struggle, at least starting out within our own global hemisphere. It's what will help ensure our own victory.

    Canada and our well being does not exist in isolation, to be sure. Only the choice is between the serving the Empire option of such as the NAU, or standing collectively with others in similar positions globally, who seek to stand on their own two feet, such as Venezuala.

    I'll stand with Venezuala, anyday. (I'll leave it to such as the social democrats to walk the No Man's Territory of Mugwamp Land, with their mugs on one side of the fence, and their wamps on the other, which is really acceptance of and particiapation in The Status Quo.)

  • jnewcomb

    1 year ago

    free trade is the future, not the past

    Terrible crimes have indeed been committed in the name of protecting security in Colombia, but free trade is not one of them. As Colombia and Canada are both democratic countries, the will of the majority of their citizens will be reflected in policies - and most Canadians and most Colombians do support free trade. Most Colombians also support Uribe's efforts and they believe the information presented by Colombia's Foreigh Affairs department that FARC terrorists are enjoying safe haven in Venezuela.

    Uribe and Chávez both have their human rights problems and both have limited the scope of civil rights in their states. However, Uribe's policies can be understood as he fights terrorists who would enslave Colombians. Chávez restricts journalists, the judiciary, property rights and civil rights only to advance his weird agenda of "Bolivarian Revolution", a Castro wannabe. Really, he reminds me of the dictator in Woody Allen's "Bananas" movie!

  • Sam Salmon

    1 year ago

    The blather and drivel from

    The blather and drivel from the usual leftist apologists never ends.

    The fact is that US money and Colombian political will has all but ended the FARC terror and some people will never be able to accept it.

    I don't understand why there's no spike in emigration to the People's Republic of Lunacy aka Venezuela.

  • Jerry Munro

    1 year ago

    The Blather & Drivel of US Empire Loyalists...

    who show up in drag here as if they were real Canadians. :-) It's always a pleasure to piss them off. :-)

    They just assume that we are all hanging on bated breath, dying to serve the US Empire cause... as they have our armed forces doing in Afghanistan, while they serve their Master's Voice only from a safe distance. The object afterall, for them, is money, not dying for any cause really, even the Ruling Class Colonial Bootlick State aka Canada.

    The lunacy is, of course, that our lands and resources are as much under threat from the Empire as Columbia's is, Iraq's or Afghanistan... or Venezuela's. (Even the Russians testing our northern waters and airspace have decided that we are not an entity to be taken seriously, but harassed instead. I mean, if the US Empire can challenge our sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, and declare it "International waters", so can anyone.

    What ya gonna do about it? Huh? Huh? Go crying to Amerika?

  • samuidave (not verified)

    1 year ago

    Are you one of the majority?

    jnewcomb states:

    As Colombia and Canada are both democratic countries, the will of the majority of their citizens will be reflected in policies - and most Canadians and most Colombians do support free trade.

    First, we do not have a democracy that represents the people, but a 'form of democracy' (our only Constitutional right to such a principle) that is governed by the monied-class. One is completely and grossly misinformed to even consider suggesting it is otherwise in Canada.

    Second, the policies of government are not a reflection of the majority of the citizens. The government in Canada doesn't even have to have 50% of the citizens on board to take monopolistic control of affairs. Whatever Canadians do support which happens to align with governmental policy is simply a correlating occurrence.

    The government does not serve the people, it just persuades the masses -- first with propaganda and, if that is ineffective, under the incessant threat or application of force -- into giving it establishment legitimacy to carry out its business.

    Here is a short clip that illustrates how we, en masse, are under incessant pressure to play the game even against our own interests: Our Way Governance

    [continue below]

  • samuidave (not verified)

    1 year ago

    [from above]

    The corollary to point two, and my third point, is with regard to the issue of most Canadians supporting Free Trade. Most Canadians do not have any idea what they are voting for in an election, at least not in substance.

    Here's a simple question to ask oneself about whether you support Free Trade: Did you read the NAFTA Free Trade agreement in full at any time in your life? And if you did, did you understand it?

    So how can anyone possibly be expected to make an informed decision about a life altering piece of legislation when knowing virtually nothing of substance about it? One cannot. And that is exactly what the government relies upon: your and my ignorance -- not just regarding Free Trade but all governmental affairs.

    Of course, and it should go without saying, the vast majority of MPs and MLAs have never read NAFTA either. So here is the skinny on political affairs: You are being lied to; and the people lying to you have been lied to as well.

    On the whole, very, very few people have the time available to even delve into matters with any conviction. It is easier to turn on the tube and take it for what it is worth, the gospel according to the establishment. This is why propaganda works.

    And like I said, it doesn't stop with the masses. We have virtually an entire political body of representatives, whom piously call themselves Honourable, knowing diddly-squat about political theory but lots about being a political animal.

    There will invariably come a time when we will revolt against this sort of governance. At this juncture it seems we may extinguish ourselves as a species before such rash measures can come to fruition.

  • dorothy

    1 year ago

    Flipping democratic alright

    "Assassinations of trade union members have also been significantly reduced since the 1990s but unionists continue to be threatened and murdered, albeit at a lower rate than the general population."

    (Wikipedia article on Colombia)

    If there is any truth to this, and I don't see it marked as 'disputed', I don't get how we can talk about 'the majority' in that country thinks! No one say what they think under the gun. And, where do they get the idea that 'most Canadians' support free trade? It sounds kind of anecdotal, as no source and actual statistics appear. I should hope 'most Canadians' are too astute to not see that free trade with Colombia can only mean we'll be bilked out of something.

  • freebear

    1 year ago

    Look foward to resource wars coverage!

    Before we leave Earth on Hawkings' advice, we have to make sure we strip her of all the resources, by smashing any other State which claims those resources!

  • RickW

    1 year ago

    Sam Salmon - FARC terror?

    How about those paramilitaries, eh?
    http://www.cfr.org/publication/15239/colombias_rightwing_paramilitaries_and_splinter_groups.html#

  • Sam Salmon

    1 year ago

    Love the input from the

    Love the input from the usual suspects who can't even spell Colombia let alone show the guts to visit the place (or learn the language).

    I notice that the People's Republic of Lunacy is now cozying up to Santos hoping he won't b!tch smack them like they so richly deserve.

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