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LASC
Position on the Merida Initiative
June 2008
As Congress enters the final stages to approve the Merida
Initiative, an aid package to Mexico and Central America that seeks to further
militarize the region under the guise of the U.S.’s “war on drugs/war on
terror,” we find manifold reasons to stand in opposition:
1) Money for Central America through the Merida Initiative
would mark a significant increase in funding for military/police equipment and
training in the region at a time when the need is for anti-poverty and
crime-prevention programs.
The
2) The Merida Initiative would further threaten human
rights by supporting repression of the rights to free speech and protest. The money from the U.S. would be an open
invitation for the Mexican and Central American governments to continue using
“iron fist” and anti-terrorism laws to crack down on legitimate social
movements.
Over the last decade, Mexican police and military personnel have
repeatedly committed human rights violations in attempt to silence civil
dissent. Taking the most recent
Meanwhile, an “anti-terrorism” law passed by the Salvadoran legislature in 2006 uses language that, like the Iron Fist laws implemented in other Latin American countries, is very vague, leaving them open to a wide variety of repressive applications. The Salvadoran government has already used these laws to further criminalize protest tactics commonly used by social movements. The US Ambassador to El Salvador has expressed explicit support for police crackdowns, condoning the use of police force in protecting US trade interests. Through funding the ILEA – in addition to other police training programs in Central America and the Caribbean – the Merida Initiative would legitimize and justify such crackdowns . Vague human rights provisions in the bill would not change this reality. Finally, there is evidence that the countries receiving aid from the Merida Initiative are already working to militarize their police forces. The separation between police and military in El Salvador and Guatemala, the top two Central American recipients of Merida Initiative aid, has declined dramatically in the years since Peace Accords led to the demilitarization of police in those countries. There has also been a resurgence of death squad-style murders, some linked to the police, in both Guatemala and El Salvador.
3) The Initiative would not effectively combat
drug-trafficking.
Military interdiction efforts have a "balloon" effect.
In Colombia, U.S. military efforts to stop coca production and trafficking in
key locations have simply shifted production and trafficking to new locations,
causing the number of coca-producing states to jump from 8 to 24 over the
course of Plan Colombia. The Merida
Initiative would likely have a parallel effect on drug trafficking, simply
diverting trafficking routes from one place to another and forcing cartels to
become more sophisticated.
Military interdiction efforts fail because they ignore a root cause of
the problem: U.S. demand. Widespread drug use in the U.S. makes drug
trafficking a lucrative business. Colombia has taught us that so long as
demand remains high, even a multi-billion dollar military solution will
fail. Even the right-wing RAND Corporation has concluded that far-flung attempts
to stop drugs at their source is 23 times less cost effective than domestic
drug treatment at home. While Merida proposes another step down the
failed supply-side path, no parallel funds are being destined to state-side
drug demand reduction programs.
4) Programs like the Merida Initiative have a worrisome lack of oversight and transparency.
Congress has not been given sufficient information about
how the Central American and Mexican police will utilize the funding included
for the region in the Merida Initiative.
The examples of the ILEA and the SOA are instructive, in that officials
at these institutions have actually blocked availability to basic information. Human rights groups that have sought
to monitor the SOA and the ILEA have been denied documentation, such as course
descriptions and names of students and instructors. Though backers of
these military and police training programs promise conditions will be placed
on the funds, given the history of poor oversight of such programs there is no
guarantee this will occur. In addition, the process in Congress for assessing the Merida Initiative was rushed and unclear, preventing opposition voices from making themselves heard. By including the Merida Initiative in the Emergency Supplemental bill to fund the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, promoters of the initiative short-circuited the normal process of going first through authorization and then through appropriations, preventing all sides and viewpoints to be heard and considered.
5) US military and police training contributes to violence
rather than diminishing it.
Ample
evidence gathered by SOA Watch and other human rights groups demonstrates that
US training increases the level of official and extrajudicial violence in Latin
America. There is no reason to believe
that any of the structural problems have been addressed when it comes to police
training. Reports from Mexico indicate
that over 200 soldiers and police trained and equipped by the US have used the
skills they learned to join and prop up various drug cartels. The proliferation of repression
tactics only perpetuates the cycles of violence. The
governments of Latin America do not need more police and military equipment and
training from the country whose training has only raised the level of violence
in the hemisphere.
The Latin America Solidarity Coalition demands:
1)
No funding for the Merida
Initiative.
2)
Close the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security and Cooperation (SOA).
3)
Close the International Law
Enforcement Academy for Latin America.
Tell the Dep. of Justice to lay off CISPESIn January this year the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) received a letter from the Department of Justice claiming CISPES might be in violation of a 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act. The evidence was an article [that did not mentioned CISPES]in the Washington Post about an event with the FMLN candidate for president, and the CISPES' website.
We have no doubt that the Bush administration would disagree with the content on the CISPES website.  CISPES is working in opposition to the establishment of the International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador, has worked tirelessly to oppose the Bush trade agenda in the region and routinely speaks out against U.S. interference in the electoral process in El Salvador. All while promoting an alternative vision of democracy based on the desires of the people of El Salvador.
None of which is criminal of course. So it seems the U.S. government would prefer to intimidate the folks at CISPES in the hope they will shut up. Well they are not going to shut up, so the rest of us need to stand by them. Please sign the open letter to the Department of Justice demanding an end to this intimidation. If your organization can sign this letter, please send e-mail Tom Ricker at tomr@quixote.org For more background about the case read this press release from CISPES, and visit the CISPES website. You can also listen to a story about the case on Free Speech Radio. NEW! Close the SOA - Sign the LASC Petition to the Presidential Candidates
Statement on FBI harassment of Puerto Rican independence activists, January 2008 -------------------- U.S. Delegation to present CAFTA monitoring report in Costa Rica ** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ** September 27, 2007 Stop CAFTA Coalition: www.stopcafta.org and http://lasolidarity.org/CAFTA_report Contacts: Katherine Hoyt at 011 506 864-3449 in Costa Rica and Burke Stansbury in the US at burke@cispes.org or 718 832-9399 to set up interviews in Costa Rica. The Stop CAFTA Coalition announces the release of DR-CAFTA Year Two: Trends and Impacts, its second report on the effects of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) trade agreement on the majority of people in the region. Working with allies in Central America and the Dominican Republic, the report finds that “patterns of growing inequality and ongoing poverty within the signing countries have taken an upward tick, in spite of predictions to the contrary prior to the agreement’s passage.” The Coalition worked to prevent the passage of the agreement in the U.S. Congress, though ultimately CAFTA passed by 2 votes in the House of Representatives. Since implementation the Coalition has monitored the impact of DR-CAFTA in the countries in which it has been implemented. The Coalition will continue to monitor and report on the effects of the agreement. On October 7, 2007 the citizens of Costa Rica will participate in an historic referendum to determine whether or not the country joins the DR-CAFTA. To support the democratic effort in Costa Rica the Coalition is sending a delegation of representatives from U.S. based organizations to Costa Rica to present findings on the effects of DR-CAFTA in other countries and to monitor the actual referendum process. The delegation will meet with organizations and individuals from various sectors involved in the referendum process and will have a presence as observers during the referendum to help ensure that the vote is fair and free of fraud. Members of the US-based Stop CAFTA Coalition stand in solidarity with the people of Costa Rica who choose a more just and equitable future, rather than one dominated by neo-liberal policies that lead to increased poverty. A successful vote against DR-CAFTA on October 7 would mark a turning point in the struggle to offer an alternative trade agenda to that being pushed by the US government, which places profit above self-determination and the needs of people. The documented effects of the “free” trade policies have led to a reassessment by the U.S. Congress about the nature of trade agreements. If Costa Ricans say “No” to the DR-CAFTA it will strengthen and support other efforts in the region to roll back the agreement, as well as efforts in the U.S. to replace failed policies with a trade policy that respects workers’ rights, cultural traditions, food sovereignty and the environment. To download the Monitoring report (in Spanish and English), please go to http://lasolidarity.org/CAFTA_report. For more information on the referendum in Costa Rica go to http://www.bilaterals.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=13
**** ** Comunicado de Prensa** 27 septiembre 2007 Delegación EE.UU. a presentar informe en Costa Rica sobre TLC Coalición “¡No al TLC!”: www.stopcafta.org o www.lasolidarity.org/CAFTA_report Contactar: Dra. Katherine Hoyt 011 506 864-3449 en Costa Rica y Burke Stansbury en los EE.UU. a burke@cispes.org o 718 832 9399 para arreglar entrevistas en Costa Rica. La Coalición “¡No al TLC!” emitirá Dos Años del TLC con Estados Unidos: Tendencias e Impactos, el segundo informe de la Coalición sobre el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos, Centro América y la República Dominicana (DR-CAFTA.) Basado en consultas con grupos aliados en Centro América y la República Dominicana, el informe revela “padrones de creciente desigualdad y pobreza adentro de los países participantes, a pesar de predicciones al contrario antes de que el acuerdo fuera aprobado.” La Coalición seguirá su monitoreo y emitirá informes en los siguientes años sobre los efectos del TLC. La Coalición trabajó para prevenir la aprobación del acuerdo por el Congreso EE.UU., aunque al final el TLC fue aprobado por dos votos en la Cámara de Representantes. Desde su entrada en fuerza, la Coalición ha monitoreado el impacto del TLC en los países que lo han implementado. El día 7 de octubre del 2007, los ciudadanos de Costa Rica participarán en un referendo histórico para decidir si su país participará o no en el DR-CAFTA. Para apoyar el esfuerzo democrático y patriótico en Costa Rica, la Coalición está enviando una delegación de representantes de organizaciones estadounidenses a Costa Rica para presentar los resultados de su informe sobre los efectos del TLC sobre los países afiliados al Tratado y para monitorear el proceso del referendo. Los miembros de la delegación se reunirán con organizaciones e individuos de los varios sectores involucrados en el proceso del referendo y participarán como observadores durante el referendo para ayudar a asegurar que la votación es honesta y correcta. Miembros de la Coalición “¡No al TLC!” (de los EE.UU.) están en solidaridad con el pueblo de Costa Rica que está escogiendo un futuro más justo y equitativo, en lugar de un futuro dominado por políticas neoliberales que llevan a mayor pobreza. Un voto exitoso en contra del TLC el 7 de octubre marcará un punto decisivo en la lucha para ofrecer una agenda alternativa a aquella propiciada por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, el cual pone las ganancias de las corporaciones antes de las necesidades de los pueblos y de la autodeterminación. Los bien documentados efectos de las políticas del libre comercio han llevado al Congreso norteamericano a una revaluación de la naturaleza de los acuerdos. Si los y las costarricenses dicen “no” al TLC, fortalecerá y apoyará a otros esfuerzos en la región centroamericana para revocar el acuerdo al igual que a los esfuerzos en los EE.UU. para reemplazar a las políticas fracasadas con una política de comercio que respeta a los derechos de los trabajadores, las tradiciones culturales, la soberanía alimentaria y el medio ambiente. Para ver el informe de monitoreo, ver: www.lasolidarity.org/CAFTA_report o para mayor información sobre el referendo en Costa Rica ver http://www.bilaterals.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=13&lang=es
**** Stop Military & Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) is engaged in a joint multi-tactical campaign against U.S. Military and Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. We operate and structure our work from a solidarity model: we operate on the principle of self-determination; it is not up to us to determine what our partners in the Global South should or should not do. Nor is it up to us to determine the strategies and methodologies they use. We determine our strategies based on the needs of our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. About the Latin America Solidarity Coalition The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) is an association of national and local US-based grassroots Latin America and Caribbean solidarity groups. LASC’s goal is to serve as a sustainable point of political convergence to help build a truly progressive Latin America solidarity movement. We constitute a collective and democratic working space for collaboration, networking and the building of broad-reaching political organizing and mobilizing capacity in support of the people of Latin America struggling for justice and a better future for their countries free of economic, military and cultural imperialism. Join us! Recent LASC events:
"International
solidarity is not an act of charity: |
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@nticopyright 2003 Reproduce and Distribute | ||||||||||||||
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Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico, builds on the troubling model of
Plan Colombia, which has poured billions of dollars into a failed military
approach to combating drugs while doing little to address rural poverty and
urban unemployment. Central America has already become a satellite for U.S.
military and police training in Latin America, despite the poor human rights
records of some governments in the region.
example, in 2006 security forces responded to civil society protest in Oaxaca
with hundreds of arbitrary detentions, acts of torture, and over 20
assassinations.
