U.S. base is no longer welcome in Ecuador

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Mon, May. 05, 2008
U.S. base is no longer welcome in Ecuador
BY JIM WYSS

~snip~
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has vowed not to renew the base's contract beyond its November 2009 expiration. And politicians drafting a new constitution have proposed banning the base or any other foreign military presence in the country.
(snip)

Back in Quito, political analyst Simón Pachano cannot foresee a scenario in which the Manta base might be allowed to stay open.

Unlike his predecessors, Correa is enjoying unprecedented popularity. And his aggressive anti-American and anti-Colombian stance plays well in this nation accustomed to taking a back seat in regional politics.

In exchange for using the base free of charge for 10 years, the United States agreed to expand and update the airstrip, and cooperate with Ecuador on counter-narcotics initiatives.

The fact that the 1999 deal was never approved by Ecuador's full legislature -- only that body's International Affairs Committee -- has made it a political target, Pachano said.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/521279.html

And stop pissing away money on yet another military base in somebody else's country.

''As an Ecuadorean, I can't go anywhere in the world without a hassle, but we let these U.S. military people come here like they own the place,'' he said. ``All human beings want their home to be respected. We all want national sovereignty.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wikipedia:
Manta Air Base

Manta Air Base (also known as Eloy Alfaro Air Base) (IATA: MEC, ICAO: SEMT) is a combination civilian airport and military air base on the outskirts of Manta in the province of Manabí in western continental Ecuador. The airport was inaugurated by the Ecuadorian air force on October 24, 1978.

The airport is currently used by the United States Air Force (USAF) division of the United States Southern Command for operations against illegal cocaine trafficking in northwestern South America. In 1999, the U.S. signed a ten-year agreement with the Ecuadorean government that allows the U.S. to station up 475 military personnel at Manta.<1> USAF AWACS and United States Navy E-2 aircraft operated from the base to monitor air traffic in the area.<2> President Rafael Correa has promised that he will not renew the agreement that allows the United States access to the base when it expires in 2009, unless the United States reciprocates by allowing Ecuador to build an air base in Miami, Florida.<3> On March 19, 2008 the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly voted to outlaw the installation of any foreign military bases in Ecuador.<4> Admiral James Stavridis, chief of the US Southern Command stated on April 21, 2008 that there were no plans to find a replacement drug-interdiction air base in South America if Ecuador declined to renew the lease of Manta. Instead, the US military would use existing air bases in El Salvador, Curacao, and Key West, Florida for drug-surveillance flights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_Air_Base

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ecuador Declines US, Offers Manta Air Base to China
Written by April Howard
Wednesday, 05 December 2007

When the U.S. Air Force Southern Command's 10-year usage rights for Ecuador's Manta air base expire in 2009, they can expect to be evicted in favor of China.

Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad signed a 10-year lease agreement with the US Military's Forward Operating Location (FOL) in 1999. The Manta base is not geopolitically important for US national security, but Southern Command (South Com) currently uses it to combat illegal cocaine trade in the "source zone" of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The air base shares a common runway with Manta's Eloy Alfaro International Airport terminal, but the air base has a separate office for cargo, while the airport handles passengers. About 475 US military personnel are stationed at the air base under a under a 10-year agreement signed with Quito in November 1999 and due to expire in 24 months.

According to Latin Americanist Marc Becker, the agreement with the US military "has proved to be unpopular and some argue unconstitutional. The purported purpose of the FOL was to help interdict drug shipments from neighboring Colombia, but opponents contend that the U.S. government has . . . move well beyond that mandate into counter-insurgency and anti-immigrant activities." There are also complaints that the base was consolidated by expropriating land from indigenous groups and small farmers. Others contend that it is being used by Colombian pilots and as a center of anti-guerilla intelligence as a part of Plan Colombia, and for the targeting of alleged terrorist groups. From March 5 to 9 of 2007, more than 400 activists gathered in Manta for the first International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases. They chose Manta due to the new government's stance against continued US presence.

When Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa was campaigning in 2006, he promised to make the contract renewal with the US contingent on a reciprocal agreement allowing Ecuador to build or station military on an airbase in Miami, Florida. The US rejected this idea, and Correa offered the base to the Terminales del Ecuador, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings during to Beijing on Nov. 21. China would be most likely to use the base for cargo transit in trade, rather than security purposes. Strategic Forecasting predicts that Correa's offer is "aimed partly at maintaining domestic support, partly at extracting preferential trade access to U.S. markets (something Washington probably will cave in to and deliver), and partly at securing Chinese capital for fulfilling Manta's future role as the largest Sino-Latin American trade trans-shipment hub on the South American west coast."

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1032/49/

President Rafael Correa has promised that he will not renew the agreement that allows the United States access to the base when it expires in 2009, unless the United States reciprocates by allowing Ecuador to build an air base in Miami, Florida.

Blasphemy!
Just so simply points out the hubris, inequities and hypocrisy of our relationship to South America, and with other nations.

"... it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity." What in the world are they complaining about ... I mean, they are viewed as sovereign entity, what more could they want? :sarcasm:

Why are we wasting all our tax money on this? Lets do the 4 star hotels in the Alps for the high rated offices also. Just keep the golf clubs around DC for Congress and the Officers.

Want to be a popular leader in the current world? Be anti-American.

Thanks, George. Heck of a fucking job, MFer.

The Ecuadorean forces are not capable of conducting the same counter-narcotics interdiction that the US mission was performing out of Manta Base.

Is it not in mutual US-Ecuadorean interests to maintain that capability? Why would Correa want to terminate such activity?

Mostly because the Columbian government friendly to the U.S. is involved with the trade the U.S. is trying to stop.

Here are some reported facts:

<snip>

...COUNTERNARCOTICS OPERATIONS
The mission of the FOL is limited to counternarcotics. The majority of the flights are from U.S. non-military government agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Patrol, which form part of the Department of Homeland Security. Other flights are from the Air Force and Navy, which are part of the U.S. military. The aircraft are not armed; they provide information for U.S. Coast Guard and partner country sea-based interdiction operations but do not themselves engage in those operations.

The information gathered by flights out of the FOL is analyzed by the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South), an interagency and international task force in Key West, Florida, consisting of different departments of the U.S. Government and liaison officers from 12 countries, including Ecuador. On the basis of the information received from the FOL and other sources, JIATF-South is able to provide guidance to U.S. and Latin American authorities so they can carry out interdiction operations.

DRUG CAPTURES
In 2007, information gathered by flights out of the FOL contributed to over 60% of the captures of illegal drugs on the high seas of the Eastern Pacific. These captures totaled over 208 tons and represented a street value of over U.S. $4.2 billion from over 1,100 counternarcotics flights...

<snip>

http://ecuador.usembassy.gov/topics_of_interest/manta-fol.html

Doesn't sound like a complete failure to me.

The base is primarily part of a network for operations against anything that threatens U.S. hegemony in Latin America.

Just keep right on gulping that Kool-Aid, Zorro. You have no one but yourself to blame for your profound ignorance.

<snip>

...The FOL is not a U.S. base. It is located within the Ecuadorian Eloy Alfaro Air Force Base and occupies less than 5% of the physical territory of the Eloy Alfaro Base.

The FOL consists of parking spaces for up to 8 unarmed aircraft (4 large and 4 medium-to-small) which fly counter-narcotics aerial surveillance missions, focused on the Eastern Pacific maritime zone. A handful of small buildings support the crews and staff who service these flights (dormitories, a cafeteria and office space)...

<snip>

http://ecuador.usembassy.gov/topics_of_interest/manta-fol.html

Quite a massive US installation, isn't it?

So tell us about what you've learned about Ecuador and the Ecuadoreans on your trips to the country; you see, I've owned property in Ecuador for decades and have spent a lot of time over the years there. That qualifies as "profound ignorance" only if you're a Bush-lover, or get your news spoon-fed from unemployed, Pro-FARC loudmouths with an internet connection.

So insult me at your own peril, junior.

Gee, thanks. I'll be certain to give it the consideration it merits.

Genuflect to your filthy corrupt system if you want. I have no use for it.

And your claim to own property in Ecuador is completely irrelevant to this topic.

Get lost, "Junior".

while you cavalierly ignore what the embassy has published because it doesn't jibe with your ill-informed opinion.

So can you can relate how your experiences in Ecuador have shaped your understanding of the situation?

Oh, what's that -- never been there? Guess that makes you quite the expert within your little circlejerk of dimwits.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ask "The Mayor of Austin," as he calls himself, seen here with _{Pierce Bush.}

Live in an area = profound ignorance of area. Don't live in an area = area expert.

Here's what my argument is:

Been in the area for decades = knows what the fuck they're talking about. Believe internet propaganda about area = clueless dumbass.

Most of the people here could give a fuck about counter-narcotics. Its all a ruse, they'd say. Legalize the damn stuff, they'd say. Who cares if a kid gets hooked on it - its all a myth, anyhow, they'd say.

Counter-narcotics? Bah.

It is going to be a bad thing.

you might learn something about how things really work.

<http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8042>

<http://www.chicagomediawatch.org/02_2_loveaffair.shtml>

<http://americas.irc-online.org/reports/2005/0507creep_body.html>

Strategy" later today. (Or is it "Strategery?")

during the past 100 years or so, both on the internet and in the form of books, and most of the people who frequent DU make use of that information. The fact that people like Zorro can come here and shamelessly post pop-media propaganda, and then boast about how knowledgeable they are on a given subject, illustrates how divorced from reality many Americans are. It can also be very entertaining (but sad as well because of the implications for the future of our country and human civilization).

national interests in other countries.

It almost seems impossible to believe that someone has actually admitted this is his real view of how the world should work.

The idea that one's own interests come first over everyone else's, even within their others' own countries is simply unworkable in the long run. You can't keep the world hostage forever. At some point you have to be able to sleep, to relax, to let your guard down, and you won't be safe if you've been forcing others to serve your interests.

A person with such flawed beliefs of appropriate national conduct would never be able to acquire any meaningful personal relationship in his life. It all goes together.

It's a mystery that people like that would ever attempt to insinuate themselves among people who are fundamentally, ethically so different!

but par for the course for you.

The national interests of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union should have prevailed over US interests, according to your argument.

You do nothing but hop around casting insults and attempting to disrupt the discussion. I would wager that you have read not a single article that has been posted on this thread, and when you do post links, they are always sourced to the Bush Administration.

You are quite transparent, Zorro. You are simply too numb to realize it.

but that's what losers do.

Why don't you point out the false information about Manta Base in the State Department links? Can't do it, can you?

You were forewarned that you insult me at your peril. It was your decision to ignore that warning.

to which you linked are accurate or not. The Department of State under the aegis of the Bush Administration has no credibility. It is what is not said that is important, and one must look elsewhere for that information.

Articles from 13 other sources were posted to this thread and you chose to address none of it. Again, it is quite obvious where you are coming from.

because you aren't interested in the truth.

It's very obvious where I'm coming from. I think that Correa is making a foolish mistake to terminate US access to Manta Base.

And I predict that the Ecuadorean people will regret that decision.

In other words, who are we to say that our way is better than others?

Zorro has it right - with your bullshit approach to international relations the Nazis or Soviets or Saddam or Amadinijad or Kim Jong-il or you name the despotic leader would be perfectly right to lead their nation however they like - and damn teh millions who are starved to death because of farm collectivizations or 5-year plans that do not reflect the realities of life or whatever.

The UN shot itself in the head a few years ago when they adopted this sort of "moral relativism" with regards to human rights - and this came from teh UN Human Rights Commission! They basically said (it was overturned very quickly) that nations have the right to treat human rights whatever way they want.

Sounds a lot like your post.

isn't going to convince anyone here of anything.

human rights and moral relativism is a Limbaugh thing you are one sick person.

Fuck you.

You're an excellent case in point on being divorced from reality.

A long-term solution to the cocaine problem would be to alleviate poverty in the region so that people don't turn to the drug trade as an easy way to make a living.

Whenever the U.S.-Bush commits a heinous crime, or foul dirty tricks, or tells egregious lies aimed at committing or covering up their crimes, the corporate news monopolies--and the Miami Herald is one of the worst--go into passive tense mode. "Tensions" are "running high." Not "the U.S./Colombia bombed Ecuador, using ten 500 lb. U.S. 'smart bombs' and U.S. high tech surveillance--and possibly U.S. aircraft and personnel--murdering 25 people, including Ecuadoran and Mexican citizens, and destroying hopes for more FARC hostages releases and an end to the 40+ year Colombian civil war," and Ecuador is furious at this violation of its sovereignty." "Tensions," all by themselves are "running high" just because.

Then there's the "he said/she said" mode of characterizing Bushite lies and disinformation, and therefore making them look equal in plausibility to the views and policies of reasonable, honest, legitimate, elected government officials. Thus:

"President Correa -- a staunch ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez -- has made the ousting of the Manta base central to his presidency, and he recently led a shake-up of Ecuador's armed forces, alleging that they were infiltrated by the CIA and too cozy with U.S. military advisors.

"Colombia, a staunch U.S. ally, is accusing the Correa administration of sympathizing with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Colombia claims that a FARC laptop, seized during a controversial and bloody cross-border raid into Ecuador on March 1, revealed that Correa's election campaign took FARC money." --Miami Herald

The Colombian government is a fucking drug mafia that regularly whacks union leaders, small peasant farmers, political leftists, anti-mafia protesters and dissidents, human rights workers and journalists, and is receiving $5.5 BILLION in U.S.-Bush military aid to do just that--to violently suppress anyone who interferes with Bush Cartel drug routes or global corporate predator interests. Anything the heinously corrupt Colombian government has to say about Rafael Correa or anyone else is coming straight from the Bush-CIA. It is manufactured DISINFORMATION. To give it equal plausibility in these "balanced" 'he said/she said' paragraphs is a lie.

And they throw in "staunch ally of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez" for good measure. Correa is HONESTLY allied with President Chavez and many other leftists governments in South America on common goals of social justice and regional self-determination. Alvaro Uribe--mafia boss of Colombia--is bought and paid for by the Bush Junta (using our tax dollars). He is not an "ally" of the U.S. He is a TOOL of the Bushites. The former go-to guy for the Medellin Cartel; now the go-to guy for the Bush Cartel.

This is how we have to read 'news' articles these days. 90% of the real story is missing--fallen into the black hole of corporate predator agendas, from which light cannot emerge. And the remaining 10% is a garbled mix of highly selective quotes, artful sentence construction and fascist theater.

Ecuador military plans to buy 24 Brazilian fighter planes
© AP
2008-05-02 23:13:05 -


QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Ecuador's Air Force chief says the country plans to purchase 24 Brazilian Super Tucano fighter planes to help bolster its military strength on the border with Colombia.

President Rafael Correa has said Ecuador needs the reinforcements since Colombia's March 1 cross-border military raid on a rebel camp.

Gen. Rodrigo Bohorquez says the planes will cost up to US$300 million (¤194 million).
Bohorquez said Friday that the purchase will be made within the next two months, and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA will deliver the planes within a year.

Correa, who cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia following the raid, said in April that Ecuador would modernize its aging air force to enforce its border.

http://www.pr-inside.com/ecuador-military-plans-to-buy-r569867.htm

A new Ecuador
The U.S. should be patient as the South American nation redefines its relationship with Washington.
April 26, 2008


Ecuador has long been overshadowed by its bigger neighbors, dwarfed on the international stage by the bombast of oil-rich Venezuela and the battle royal in Colombia between the government and leftist rebels. Not anymore. Colombia's raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador last month galvanized President Rafael Correa. Suddenly, Ecuador matters.

Having told both the Colombian government and the rebels to stay out of his country, Correa is now taking on the United States. He has ousted top commanders and members of his military who he says have ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and reaffirmed that Ecuador will not renew the lease for the U.S. air base in Manta after it expires in 2009.

Reactionaries in Washington see these moves, particularly regarding the base, as a sign that the left-leaning Correa has finally drifted into Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's orbit. But Correa's stand is not the result of anti-U.S. sentiment stoked by Chavez and exacerbated by the raid. The base is widely unpopular with the Ecuadorean people, and -- as did other candidates running for president last year -- Correa promised the departure of the U.S. military. These are reasonable steps for Ecuador. Correa is distancing his country from Colombia's internal struggles and, like other Latin American nations, redefining its relationship with the U.S.

"We're going to begin to be a sovereign and independent country," Correa said in a recent speech. "We've had enough of intelligence services that are financed by the United States Embassy, financed by the CIA. We will end all of this." This rhetoric does have an anti-U.S. ring, but it's also pro-Ecuador. Rather than go away mad, the U.S. would be better off responding with a patient appreciation of Correa's domestic political situation. If we don't support Ecuador's maturing position in the region, we could push the country into the anti-U.S. bloc threatening to take shape.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-ecuador26apr26,0,3455395.story

Ecuador Will Contribute $400 Million To Bank Of The South -Min

QUITO -(Dow Jones)- Ecuador will contribute about $400 million to the Bank of the South, which will operate with capital of around $7 billion, Finance Minister Fausto Ortiz said Monday.

"The contribution of each member will be in proportion to the size of its economy. Our contribution will be some $400 million," Ortiz said in interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

Ecuador's contribution will come from the country's general budget.

Ortiz said that the $400 million will be paid in 10 years. The first payment will be made this year, and it will be around $80 million.

Ortiz said each member nation could pay up to 10% of its contribution in the local currency.

Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela are expected to be the largest shareholders, and each will contribute $2 billion.

More:
http://www.international.na">~~~~ link ~~~~

going to work if I posted it "as is:"

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080505%5CACQDJON200805051200DOWJONESDJONLINE000314.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Ecuador%20Will%20Contribute%20$400%20Million%20To%20Bank%20Of%20The%20South%20-Min

This may do the job. :hi: Sorry.

Thanks for the link.:pals:

Legitimacy of U.S. Base at Manta Questioned

In 1999, the US made an agreement to lease the Eloy Alfaro Air Base in Manta for a period of ten years, but this agreement was never taken to the Ecuadorian parliament for approval. For this reason, the legitimacy of the base has been questioned by many Ecuadorian citizens from its very inception.

After 9/11, SOUTHCOM began expanding its operations as part of the war on terror to include drug interdiction in Colombia and the targeting of alleged terrorist groups. Although the agreement with Ecuador was that the Forward Operating Location (FOL) would be used only for the surveillance of drug-related activities, many have become concerned that it is also used as a base for counterinsurgency operations in Colombia. At the time, the US government promised that it would simply refurbish an old air field for daytime anti-narcotics surveillance and that no US personnel would be permanently housed at the facility. By 2004, base operations had expanded to include regular visits by US naval war and Coast Guard ships and the stationing of 475 US military personnel.

Base Operations Violate Ecuadorian Sovereignty, Security, Environment

Ecuadorians are beginning to associate a number of problems, either directly or indirectly, with the base in Manta:

- The US Coast Guard has become involved in patrolling the waters off the coast of Ecuador - violating Ecuador’s sovereign right to patrol its own territorial waters - although the FOL permits only the aerial detection of drug-trafficking.

- The US Coast Guard has sunk Ecuadorian fishing vessels on the grounds that they were involved in drug trafficking. In many cases, no drugs were found on the boats and no compensation was paid to the fishermen.

- Herbicidal aerial spraying – harmful to both humans and the environment – has increased along the Colombian-Ecuadorian border.

- The number of Colombian refugees who flee both from the Colombian paramilitaries and from the destruction of their homelands through aerial spraying has also increased.

- Incursions into Ecuadorian ground and airspace by Colombian military units in search of guerillas, resulting in the ‘accidental’ death of Ecuadorian citizens have led to the fear that this small Andean country is being dragged into the war on drugs, the war on terror, and Colombia’s ongoing guerilla warfare.1

- Human rights groups have charged that US airplanes based at Manta have been involved in activities ranging from immigration interdiction to a failed coup attempt against President Chavez of Venezuela. Moreover, the US Defense Department has been pressuring Ecuador to allow the Manta base to be used for anti-terror operations.

- The US military has hired DynCorp, a company that is heavily involved in US activities in Colombia, to run base operations. The company is also involved in US military activities in Iraq, where it provides border security advisors. In the words of Gustavo Larrea, of the Quito-based Latin American Association for Human Rights, “Here we have a company of mercenaries that has been accused of human rights abuses across the globe operating an illegal American base on Ecuadorian territory.”2


Base Issue Enters the National Elections

The continued presence of the Manta base became an issue in the Presidential elections last November. National newspapers ran articles featuring the position of each Presidential candidate on the Air Base in Manta. Although some observers have pointed to the leftward turn in Latin America as contributing to the heated political atmosphere in the southern hemisphere, in fact candidates from across the political spectrum announced their intention to terminate the agreement with the United States.

Rafael Correa stood out from the rest of the candidates with his particular position on the basing issue. During his campaign he told the New York Times: “Of course we are willing to negotiate with the United States about extending the lease for the base in Manta. If they let us build an Ecuadorian base in Miami, if it is no problem, we’ll extend their lease.” Correa was elected and, as of the time of writing, he has so far stuck by his anti-base position. According to recent polls, some 65% of Ecuadorians, and 45% of Manta residents, oppose the renewal of the Manta base agreement.

More:
http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?act_id=17048&username=guest@tni.org&password=9999&publish=Y

Every country in the world needs to shut down american military bases.

k&r!

Is it close to the Ecuator?

Why do you think it's a good idea to shut down American military bases in every country in the world?

to have military bases in every country in the world?

Why would an imperialist half-wit spend time posting messages on a progressive website?

to kick the base out, as well. It was a general wish of the population, characterized by demonstrations there at the time, and continuing.

Really makes you wonder what kind of disease leads people to imagine it's appropriate to force countries to accept our bases, even when they indicate they DON'T WANT THE DAMNED THINGS THERE.

It's rape on a grand scale. Only the most twisted, unbalanced people in the world would DREAM of holding the world prisoner. Sick, delusional, shabby! Second rate! Low rent! Jesus. Really reminds you of all the swear words you've never used yet.

Narcissism running wild, in it's virulent stage. Thank god there aren't too many of these winners.

Do you have reading comprehension problems, too?

Bases are put into areas to support US interests. If you actually had any real world experience, you'd realize that's a good thing. Duh.

Lots of Democrats do realize this, despite your insinuation otherwise.

I post when I see rampant stupidity go unchallenged, and there's a lot of that on Latin American topics.

If you don't like hearing from someone who knows what they're talking about...tough shit.

Your parents must have named you after Reagan, because you obviously come from the shallow end of the gene pool.

:spray:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I can't wait to hear more about your "real world experience". Doubtless you have much to offer to everyone's understanding of how a thousand military bases sprinkled throughout the world benefits the citizens of the United States. Operating and maintaining these bases must be supremely expensive - surely hundreds of billions of dollars per year. What sort of return do we get from that investment? It must be something really special, because that revenue would go a long way toward providing medical care and public transportation and the development of alternative energy sources and reversing the damage we've done to the biosphere (not to mention the hatred they generate for our country) and many other things that are necessary to our long-term survival.

Surely you realize that many of these bases are used to oppress people in other countries. There is much evidence that supports this claim. Have you never read any books by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, John Perkins, John Pilger or Greg Palast? But who are these fools next to your grand body of knowledge? How does the United States benefit from the suppression of political movements in other countries?

Please, I await enlightenment.

And, out of curiosity, why would you continue to compare me to right-wingers? Such comparisons make little sense. If so few things are obvious to you, surely one of them is the fact that I am to the left of many regular posters on DU

You state "Surely you realize that many of these bases are used to oppress people in other countries. There is much evidence that supports this claim."

From the article at the beginning of this thread:

<snip>

On show is the $71 million investment that has helped turn this once tiny airstrip into an international airport, complete with a state-of-the-art fire station. The base's planes haul in tons of donations and emergency aid, and the base supports dozens of charities, including orphanages, schools for the handicapped and a beauty pageant.

The Manta operation pumps $6.5 million a year into the local economy and employs about 150 local staff members, Leonard said.

Those are figures that the government should be focusing on, said Zambrano, Manta's longtime mayor.

While the base is not the primary economic engine in this town of 250,000 that lives off industrial fishing, it does help, he said.

''The base not only creates direct jobs, but there are hundreds of small businesses that provide services to the base,'' Zambrano said.

<snip>

Supporting dozens of charities -- yeah, that's really oppressing. Supporting hundreds of small businesses. Shockingly brutal and contemptible behavior.

Manta's longtime mayor sounds as if he doesn't mind such oppression, but what does he know -- he's only the long-time mayor, so he must be profoundly ignorant of the real situation. But you read something somewhere, so you obviously know more about the true situation than he does.

Yeah, right.

So name me a current US overseas base where we are "oppressing the people", since you state that there's "much evidence" to substantiate your claim.

And Gitmo doesn't count.

Here is some more:

The network of US military bases is strategic, located in proximity of traditional strategic resources including nonrenewable sources of energy. This military presence has brought about political opposition and resistance from progressive movements and antiwar activists.

Demonstrations directed against US military presence has developed in Spain, Ecuador, Italy, Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria and in many other countries. Moreover, other long-term resistance movements directed against US military presence have continued in South Korea, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, Cuba, Europe, Japan and other locations.

The Worldwide resistance to US foreign military bases has grown during the last few years. We are dealing with an International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases.

<http://www.nezakladnam.cz/en/742_the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-bases>


Growing popular struggles against the joint military exercises and the CSL bases in the Philippines may have an impact on anti-base struggles around the world.

For over 110 years the Philippines has been U.S. imperialism’s prime military outpost and stepping stone to China and the Asian mainland. U.S. bases in the Philippines enabled the U.S. military to control strategic sea lanes.

Philippine law has banned U.S. bases since a mass movement forced them out in 1992. Yet today 30,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed there and are in constant operation. Under the Balikatan joint war exercises, the Pentagon is bringing in logistical equipment and building installations.

<http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_26410.shtml>


The power dynamics of militarism in the Asia-Pacific region rely on dominance and subordination. These hierarchical relationships, shaped by gender, can be seen in U.S. military exploitation of host communities, its abuse and contamination of land and water, and the exploitation of women and children through the sex industry, sexual violence, and rape. Women’s bodies, the land, and indigenous communities are all feminized, treated as dispensable and temporary. What is constructed as “civilized, white, male, western, and rational” is held superior to what is defined as “primitive, non-white, female, non-western, and irrational.” Nations and U.S. territories within the Asia-Pacific region are treated as inferiors with limited sovereignty or agency in relation to U.S. foreign policy interests that go hand-in-hand with this racist/sexist ideology.

The imbalance of power in gender relations in and around bases is mirrored at the alliance level as well. The United States controls Hawai’i through statehood; Guam is a colonial territory; and the United States is the dominant partner in alliances with Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. The expansion and restructuring of U.S. bases and military operations in the region depend on these imbalances of power, which are rooted in histories of annexation, colonization, exploitation, and war.

<http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5069>

Here are some more excerpts from the OP's article:

- But in Ecuador, the Base de Manta is viewed largely as an affront to national sovereignty that threatens to drag the country into the regional drug war.

- Paco Velasco, a member of the Alianza País party, said that fighting drugs is a national priority, but that the Manta base sends the wrong message. ''A foreign military base here makes our armed forces look bad, and it makes our nation look like it's not capable of taking care of itself,'' Velasco said

- Unlike his predecessors, Correa is enjoying unprecedented popularity. And his aggressive anti-American and anti-Colombian stance plays well in this nation accustomed to taking a back seat in regional politics.

- The fact that the 1999 deal was never approved by Ecuador's full legislature -- only that body's International Affairs Committee -- has made it a political target, Pachano said.

- ''The Manta agreement has always been viewed as a mistake, and it's even less politically viable now,'' said Pachano, a professor at the Latin American University for social sciences.

- As a cab driver in Manta, René Santana says he has mixed feelings about the base. While he appreciates the extra dollars he makes shuttling crew members or visitors to the airport, the extra money has its price.

''As an Ecuadorean, I can't go anywhere in the world without a hassle, but we let these U.S. military people come here like they own the place,'' he said. ``All human beings want their home to be respected. We all want national sovereignty.''

That figures. You've got nothing.

Here it is again for you to ignore:

So name me a current US overseas base where we are "oppressing the people", since you state that there's "much evidence" to substantiate your claim.

Evidently, you believe that anyone who doesn't agree with you is stupid or under-educated.

Your tactics are very revealing. I wish you guys would write another playbook. This is too too boring.

you ignore the provocative insults from your buddies.

Evidently you have nothing to contribute to the debate.

Evidently you should not read this thread if you're bored.

but that's because of the things you say on this and other threads. You and your kind are why I tell people I'm a Socialist Democrat and never just Democrat - I want to distance myself from you. I also confess that I don't contribute much or make long posts, and prefer to keep to myself.

But reading these threads is far from boring, in spite of the little turds you keep floating in the punchbowl. Most of what I've learned about the world, I learned from the research of people far more dedicated and articulate than me.

You have much to say that is worthy of hearing.

I hope my PM reached you intact. If not, please let me know, as I have never used the feature before and may need some tips.

I have a very strong interest in Latin America, and in the revolution. My fondest (pipe?) dream is that it will happen in the U.S.

You're certainly welcome to affiliate yourself with the brainwashed, anti-American anti-progressive wing of the Democratic Party if that's your preference.

That's probably a pretty good place for someone who compares truth and facts with turds in a punchbowl.

Colombia’s war in the Andes
Colombia’s long-running civil war spilled over the border to Ecuador in a raid against FARC guerrillas in March. Gerard Coffey reports on the aftermath
Quito, April 2008

~snip~
Legitimate targets
Alvaro Uribe is likely to be one of the very few people in this world who will be sad to see the back of George W Bush. The collective sigh of relief that can be heard as the world watches the US presidential primaries, and imagines a world without one of the most warlike and intellectually challenged presidents in the history of the United States, is not audible in the corridors of the presidential palace in Bogotá. The Colombian head of state is desperate to finish off his adversaries and the next US leader may be less committed to military solutions.

But it’s not over yet. Bush was never going to be a traditional lame duck president – quite the opposite. So there will doubtless be a sting in the tail of this particularly nasty American administration. The seven months remaining still allow enough time for scores to be settled, and while the political and economic climate in the US may not be conducive to major operations such as an attack on Iran or Venezuela, the governments of Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador are clearly more appetising targets, vulnerable to means less dramatic than major military intervention.

The 1 March incursion into the northern Ecuadorian province of Sucumbios was the opening gambit. The Colombian minister of defence, Juán Manuel Santos, openly stated that he regretted nothing, claimed the raid was legitimate and a clear victory for his country despite its condemnation as a violation of Ecuadorian sovereignty by the Organisation of American States. Twenty-six people died. Among them was Raul Reyes, second in command of the FARC, four students from the Autonomous University of Mexico (DF) and one Ecuadorian citizen. But apart from the dead the attack has left behind a number of questions, above all regarding the participation of the United States.

AWAC electronic monitoring planes from the American base at Manta on the Ecuadorian coast are constantly in the air but failed to report the attack to the Ecuadorian authorities until it was over, despite having more than sufficient time to do so: the raid lasted six hours. Colombia also claims the encampment and the position of Reyes was revealed to them by human agents. But the heavy tree cover that made the camp invisible from the air, the fact that the raid was carried out at night, and the precision of the bombing, all suggest the use of sophisticated monitoring equipment used by AWAC type aircraft. The type of bombs used has also been analysed by the Ecuadorian military. Their conclusions are that the GBU 12 type of guided bomb was used in the raid, which according to NATO no planes used by the Colombian airforce are equipped to carry. The question of what planes were used, where they were based and who flew them, are presently being investigated by the Ecuadorian government.

Colombian authorities claim that Franklin Aisalla, the Ecuadorian who died in the attack, was a FARC sympathiser and therefore also a ‘legitimate target’ according to the Uribe government, despite being a non combatant and being on his home soil. The issue of ‘legitimate targets’ has been taken up by the New York faith-based Fellowship of Reconciliation. The group has been investigating the role of US aid to Colombian army units that kill their own civilians and claim them (at times going so far as dress them) as guerillas. Recent articles in the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post have exposed the widespread nature of the practice.

More:
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/article1217.html

I'm half way through it, but must finish it tonight, as I am off to work now.

Thanks.

Leave bases for 100 years or more. Ludicrous. We should have respect to other people's countries.