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Militarization Strategy Paper
Statements of Understanding of the U.S. War System
1. The nations of the Western Hemisphere, including the United
States, were created by European imperialism through systematic
genocide of indigenous populations and cultures and the exploitation
of indigenous and African slavery.
2. The United States is the inheritor of European imperialism.
In alliance with elites in Latin America it continues to employ
its military and economic power to strip Latin America and the
Caribbean of natural and human resources and to stand as an
obstacle to the legitimate aspirations of the majority of people
in the hemisphere.
3. United States' military interventions have caused untold
misery throughout the hemisphere. These interventions have included
the annexation of half of Mexico, the partition of Colombia
in order to build the Panama canal, the continued occupation
of Puerto Rico, and the engineering of coups and civil wars
too numerous to list.
4. Hostility toward Cuba continues to cause misery and death
for the Cuban people and prevents them from realizing the full
potential of their dream for a just and egalitarian society.
The Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, on Cuban soil, violates the
principle of the right of nations to self-determination and
self-government.
5. The use of the island of Vieques for bombing and military
training is opposed by the vast majority of Puerto Ricans and
should be ended immediately.
6. A militarized approach to eradicating drug production in
various parts of the Andean region, rather than addressing the
problem of drug consumption in the United States, will simply
move drug production to other parts of the hemisphere or the
world. The drug problem should be solved through treatment and
prevention at home as opposed to military training and equipment
abroad.
7. The US's so-called war on drugs is a racist policy that
at its heart is an assault on people of color and the poor in
the US and Colombia.
8. Plan Colombia is a dangerous U.S. intervention on one side
of a civil war. It is opposed by most of the world and particularly
by those countries surrounding Colombia whose citizens will
be among the new victims of this US-sponsored intensification
of military action in a situation where national sovereignty
and the right of the Colombian people to resolve their conflicts
internally is paramount.
9. United States military interventions and present policies
support US corporate aspirations to exploit the natural and
human riches of the hemisphere in order to reap profits.
10. United States training of Latin American military personnel
and
police has increased the brutality and number of human rights
violations across the hemisphere. All US Military Training of
foreign militaries must be terminated.
11. U.S. military bases in foreign soil increased crime such
as prostitution and child molestation, violence against women,
and limits on the human rights of citizens in the U.S.-occupied
areas.
12. U.S. military bases abroad and in the United States cause
environmental destruction and toxic waste pollution. The U.S.
has a terrible track record in Panama and elsewhere of leaving
the land poisoned when it does close a military installation.
Statements of Principle for an Alternative U.S.
Foreign Policy
| Statements
of Action |
| 1.
The members of LASC will initiate a joint grassroots campaign
to end US military intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
a. The priority
emphasis / objective of the campaign will be to STOP PLAN
COLOMBIA.
b. The campaign
will target Congress primarily, and the US government
more broadly.
c. The campaign
will be multi-tactical in nature, to allow the greatest
possible participation. It may include lobbying, local
protests, national mobilizations, and civil disobedience.
d. The campaign
will include a strong educational component, particularly
with regard to the role of US Army Southern Command.
e. The campaign
will be organized by a coalition of interested organizations
who share our solidarity perspective.
2. The LASC
will launch the campaign with a National Demonstration
Against US Military and Economic Intervention in Latin
America.
a The Demonstration
will coincide with the national days of action against
the World Bank and IMF being organized in Washington DC
from September 28 to October 4, 2001.
b The Demonstration
demands will be:
i. Stop US
Military and Economic Intervention in Latin America
ii. No to
Plan Colombia
iii. No to
the FTAA
iv. US Bases
out of Vieques and all of Latin America
v. Close
the School of the Americas / WHISC
vi. Stop
the Direct Assault on people of color and the poor in
the US and Latin America through the phony war on drugs
3. We encourage
the organizing of solidarity delegations to Colombia. |
1. We pledge ourselves to abolishing the war system in which
we have all lived. The war system works hand in hand with the
WTO, NATO, NAFTA and the proposed FTAA to enforce US economic
interests abroad.
2. National sovereignty and the right to self-determination
are paramount. The nations and peoples of the hemisphere have
the right to pursue self-government free of external military
pressures.
3. Democracy is more than simply holding regular elections,
but rather the principle that all people within a nation have
the right to have their voices heard and taken into account
in all matters that affect their quality of life and aspirations
for themselves and their children. Peaceful, negotiated resolution
of differences is by far the preferred method to advance the
democratic and economic rights of people. However, when governments
prevent people from achieving their aspirations, they have the
right and responsibility to change that government by whatever
means are necessitated by historical conditions.
4. It is the responsibility of all people of conscience in
the United States to hold the US government accountable and
to oppose US military intervention around the world.
5. The solution to Colombia's crisis will not be achieved through
the military. The U.S. should stop supporting Plan Colombia.
6. The U.S. military seeks to "engage" every military institution
in the hemisphere, with the exception of Cuba. This has led
the United States military to establish close ties with and
provide training and equipment to military institutions in the
hemisphere that commit human rights violations. To break with
this history, the U.S. should close the Western Hemisphere Institute
for Security Cooperation, as it is the reincarnation of the
U.S. Army School of the Americas.
7. The U.S. should stop the bombing of Vieques, Puerto Rico.
8. The U.S. should close its military bases in the region,
including those in Guantanamo, Vieques, El Salvador, and Curaçao.
9. The U.S. should continue to prohibit regular military training
to Guatemala.
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